Operation Goblin Shark
by Mia Story
Summary: Snow and newborn Emma crossed over together to the Land without Magic. Snow became a police officer and spent the past 20 yrs searching for clues on her husband's whereabouts. A few minutes before her retirement party she's finally got something.
1. Chapter 1

I've spent the last ten minutes staring at my computers screen. Right there I see the Evil Queen's photograph staring back at me. My stepmother, the woman who took my life and my dreams and my heart and stomped on them, breaking them into pieces. Regina Mills, the ID reads. 108 Mifflin St, Storybrooke, Maine. Where is Storybrooke, I wonder. I've certainly never heard of it before and I've been working in this police department for a long time.  
"Are you coming Mary Margaret?" Paul asks.  
"Give me a minute," I reply.  
"I thought you handed all your cases to Jim."  
"I did. This isn't a regular case." I reply."This is a favor, for a friend."  
"Well, hurry up, would you? Your not so surprising retirement party is happening in the break room. I'm supposed to get you. So, come on. Put your best surprised face on and let's go," Paul winks at me.  
Throwing surprise parties for all the staff who are about to retire on the last day is a department tradition. We all laugh, because it couldn't possibly be a surprise when we are all expecting it.  
"I'm coming, I just need to make a quick call."  
"Hurry up!" Paul smiles and he walks away.  
I pick up my phone and I dial Emma's number.  
"Mom? Is every thing alright?" she asks.  
"I...I think..."I hesitate. Should I even tell her? What if it's just a coincidence? What if it's just a look alike?  
I look at the screen. It is definitely not a look alike. There she is. My evil stepmother is looking right at me. Regina Mills, 108 Mifflin St, Storybrooke Maine.  
"Mom! What's wrong?" Emma sounds concerned.  
"Nothing is wrong," I try to reassure her. "Have you ever heard of a town called Storybrooke in Maine?"  
"Storybrooke? I can't say that I have. What's going on Mom?"  
"I...might have stumbled into something..."I hesitate again.  
"Mom! It's not like you to call me from work while I'm on duty. Tell me what's happening or I'm going to drop everything and get over there."  
"The Evil Queen forgot to pay a speeding ticket while she was in Boston. So now there's a warrant out for her arrest, which gives me a picture, a name and an address," I say and I can hear my voice cracking. I hadn't realized it but my hands are shaking.  
"The Evil Queen? THE Evil Queen? Your fairytale stepmother is in Maine? Oh Mom! This is huge! This is the break we've been waiting for!" Emma replies. I can hear the excitement building up in her voice. "Are you alright?"  
Yes, I want to say, I'm fine but I try not lie to Emma. When you ask a child who is now a grown woman to believe in fairytales, to believe that her father loves her more than anything in the world but he is far away because he is detained by a curse, it is important not to lie about little things. Its important not to lie at all. At least that's how I view this.  
"No," I say softly. "I'm freaking out. I'm trying hard not to burst into tears."  
"Oh Mom, it's OK" I can hear Emma smiling "just chock it up to your retirement. Say 'leaving this job is making me emotional!' But seriously, do you need me to come get you?"  
"I'll be fine." I reply. "Why, where are you now?"  
"On my way to the office to write my reports, right after I book Mr Silas Brown here for assaulting a police officer."  
"Are you alright?"  
"Oh, I'm fine. Willie's nose though, not so fine. Probably broken. He is on his way to the emergency room."  
I feel a bit guilty but the truth is that I am relieved that it's my daughter's partner that has the broken nose and not Emma.  
"Be careful, hon!"  
"I know, Mom. I know. So, when do you want to visit Storybrooke? First thing tomorrow?"  
"I was hoping tonight," I reply."Are you coming? Maybe I should go alone first. It might be just a coincidence. So maybe you should just stay home..."  
"And miss a chance to meet my father? Of course I'm coming!"  
"Emma, look, I don't want to get your hopes up..." I say hesitantly. Maybe calling her was a mistake.  
"Mom! Stop it. I understand how this works. I'm not getting my hopes up. But I do have hope. Because that's how you raised me. So we will go, investigate, and take everything one step at a time."  
You have hope because you are your father's daughter, I want to argue but I decide not to make that point.  
"Exactly," I reply."Is there any way you can take time off work? In case we need to stay there for a while? I mean, you don't have to..."  
"Of course. I got this Mom. Are you sure you don't need me to come over?"  
"I'm fine. See you when I get home."

I get off my desk and I visit the bathroom. My eyes are red and my face is looking flushed. I splash water on my face and I look at myself in the mirror. I wonder what Charming will make of my haircut. I still look the same, or pretty much the same give or take twenty years and a wrinkle or two.

 _"I don't want to do this.I'm not leaving you. She said it would be on her twenty-eighth birthday..."_  
 _"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"_

Well, let me tell you Charming a lot can happen in twenty eight years. I arrived in the land without magic with newborn Emma. I quickly realized that men in the land without magic were extremely fascinated with my long hair, so I after I grew tired of their advances I cut most of it off. That didn't really stop them, but it did slow them down a bit. I was shocked at the size of the land without magic. I knew right away I would need an edge, an advantage if I were to locate you and everybody else in this vast area. I needed access to information, photographs, names and locations. I needed a job that would let me do my research. So I became a police officer. And for the past twenty years I've been doing just that. Looking. Looking for you, looking for Red, for Granny or Grumpy. Looking for any connection to the Enchanted Forest. And today of all days, today, ten minutes before my retirement party, and just one day before Emma's twenty-eighth birthday I finally found it. A connection to the Enchanted Forest. The Evil Queen forgot to pay a speeding ticket when she went to Boston. The Evil Queen is going by the name of Regina Mills. She lives in 108 Mifflin Street, Storybrooke Maine.

I splash more water on my face and I take a few deep breaths. I look a bit younger than my actual age. Maybe it's the hair. Or the rosy cheeks. Or the fact that I train so hard to stay fit for work. Or maybe all the Enchanted Forest water I drank growing up.

 _"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"_

A lot of things can happen in twenty eight years Charming. Emma graduated out of high school early and then she got married and kept it a secret from me for a while. She had to come clean when she got pregnant though. We became a grandparents to Henry. I'm not sure how you will feel about Emma's husband Neal, but Emma's son Henry is the sweetest, kindest kid you will ever meet. He is so smart too. Nothing escapes him. Emma and Neal's marriage has been on the rocks for a while. He moved out and he sees his son on the weekends. I can see that Emma is hopeful they will get back together but Neal seems to be holding back. I can't imagine what's keeping him from getting back together with her. Emma is both beautiful and down to earth, kind and tough. She loves without holding back. Just like you do. So whatever is keeping Neal away from her...it must have something to do with his past. The part of his past he refuses to talk about.  
Emma became a police officer too. I am so proud of Emma and so blessed to have her in my life. For years she's been helping me with my research. For years she's been keeping me going when I just wanted to despair and give up. When I think of all the things you've missed, Emma's first step, her first word, her drawing in first grade, when she drew our family and drew you in a castle in the clouds with a crown on your head or the letter she wrote to you in third grade, the one that prompted a concerned phone call from Mrs Toad, her third grade teacher:"Dear daddy, I miss you. I wish you were here so I could kiss you and break your curse..." That letter made me cry and wish for you so badly. Not so much for my sake, even though I'm terribly lonely without you, but for yours. I wish you were here to watch Emma grow, I wish you were here to meet Henry, I wish you were here to help me decide whether to embrace Neal or lock him in one of the interrogation rooms until he comes clean with whatever secret he is hiding in his past.

 _"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"  
_

When you said that, we were so young, so innocent, so in love... There is no doubt in my mind you meant every word but I wonder how you'll feel now when you meet me. Now that I'm older, perhaps wiser, perhaps more jaded or broken. I wonder what the curse did to you, how it changed you. I wonder if our young innocent fairytale love is enough to bring us back together after twenty eight years, if its enough to survive twenty eight years apart. _  
_I glance at myself in the mirror one last time. Regina Mills, 108 Mifflin Street, Storybrooke Maine. I smile and my heart beats faster. The Evil Queen made a mistake. The Evil Queen forgot to pay her parking ticket and now I am hot on her trail. All I have to do, is get through my retirement party and then I can turn in my badge, my gun and the keys to the police cruiser and I can ran home to pack. I'll be in Storybrooke tonight, Emma and I will be looking for you first thing in the morning.

 _"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"  
_

Nothing. Twenty eight years is nothing. Because I am coming for you and I wont let twenty eight years or forty years or eighty years stand in my way.

I step out of the bathroom, I put my best surprised smile on and I walk to the break room. My soon to be ex coworkers yell "Surprise!"  
"I did not see this coming at all!"I say with a tone that indicates the exact opposite.  
"Thank you for being such a good sport Mary Margaret!" Laura, my boss says."May I have your attention please! We are here today to say goodbye to one of the most hardworking, efficient,compassionate and by the book officers that graced this Police Department. We are here to honor the woman internal affairs calls Snow White because she is so squeaky clean!"  
The officers laugh and clap their hands and whistle."But above all, I am here to say goodbye to my friend Mary Margaret! You've worked so hard and put on so many hours of overtime, that when you told me that you were going to retire early I didn't believe you. Yet here you are! We thank you for your hard work, your dedication and all the hours you put in volunteering, helping us with our files and research. Working with you has been a pleasure and we wish you the best of luck with whatever you do next!"  
"Thank you!" I say and smile. There are several things I meant to say, gratitude I wanted to express, but now all that matters is this address in Storybrooke Maine. My life is about to start again. My real life.  
Everybody claps and yells and whistles. People are raising their glasses, filled with soda and water since we are still on duty, then they come to shake my hand and hug me.  
"Now for a real toast with actual drinks we are going to Ralph's after work," Jim says. "You are coming, aren't you Mary Margret?"  
"Sorry I can't. Something came up and I need to leave town right after I get off work."  
"What's next Mary Margaret?" Paul asks.  
"Now I'm going to join my husband in Maine," I smile.  
"Your husband, huh? Am I ever going to meet this guy?" he asks.  
"Maybe. Probably not," I shrug and he laughs.  
"Well, good luck with whatever you do next," he replies. "We'll miss you, and if you change your mind, about retirement I mean, you know where we'll be" he adds and for a brief second I let myself wonder what exactly he means by that. Then I shake my head because Regina lives in 108 Mifflin Street, Storybrooke Main and that is all that matters.

When Emma gets off work, she rushes up to my bedroom and then she looks at me her eyes wide open. I am currently trying on my red dress, while I've already tried and discarded all my other dresses, now laying on several messy piles on top of my bed.  
"Mom? What's going on?" she asks.  
"Nothing looks right," I say and I feel like I'm about to cry.  
"What do you mean? You look amazing in the red dress. And that white dress on top of pile number three looks great. And you are the one who taught me that what matters is what is on the inside. So what is going on?"  
"I cut off my hair..." I say and now I have actual tears streaming down my face.  
"Yes, because police officers are busy chasing bad guys. Not keeping up their gorgeous long princess tresses. You look amazing Mom. And if my father cannot see what a beauty the woman who survived the police academy, kept a demanding job and raised me all by herself is, then I'm going to punch him in the face for being blind!" Emma states matter of factly.  
"He's not like that, you know..." I reply quietly.  
"I know. If he is half the man you describe him to be, then you have nothing to worry about," she replies."Also, mind you, your lead is the Evil Queen. Instead of hot dresses, maybe you should pack jeans, a baseball hat and sunglasses. You want to blend in, in Storybrooke. Not stand out. At least until you figure out what the situation is."  
She is right of course. So I hang my dresses back in the closet. I do pack both the white and the red dress in my suitcase, then I pack jeans and few plain shirts. I throw in my red short nightie. Just in case. I wonder if Emma noticed but thankfully she doesn't comment. I reach to the back of the closet and pull out a brown case.  
"What is this?" Emma asks.  
I open the case.  
Emma whistles.  
"It's your father's sword." I say quietly as I pull it out of the case and inspect the blade. It's still sharp. "He handed it to me, as I walked into the wardrobe. Then he kissed your forehead and he said 'find me!' Three black knights entered the room, so he shut the door and he turned around to fight them, to keep them away from the wardrobe long enough for the magic to work. I held on to you tightly and watched him, through the crack of the wardrobe door, until the wardrobe made a noise and I found myself here, in the land without magic, in the forest."  
Emma's eyes are welling up with tears.  
"Was Dad good enough a sword fighter to fight three black knights at once?" she asks.  
"He was... he is good enough to fight ten black knights at once," I reply. "But I do think that he got stabbed...right before the wardrobe transported us, I think I saw him get stabbed!'  
"Mom!" Emma whispers."you never told me that before. What if he didn't make it?"  
I look at Emma and I nod."He made it," I state simply.  
'How do you know that?" she asks.  
"Because our story can't end like this," I say quietly and I put the sword back in its case and place the case on top of my suitcase.  
Emma leans in and kisses my forehead.  
"I'm sure you are right Mom," she replies but for the first time I see doubt in her eyes."I'm going to go pack," she says.  
"What about Henry?" I change the subject.  
"Well, tomorrow is Saturday. Neal agreed to pick him up tonight. As long as we don't tell Henry where we are going..."  
"I'm not lying to him," I reply. "When you want people to trust you enough to believe in fairytales...-" I start to say,  
"I know, I know, you got to tell them the truth about everything else." Emma adds, then she glances at me and I can almost read her thoughts. The possibility of my father being dead is a truth I would have liked to have known sooner, she is thinking.  
"He is alive Emma," I reply.  
Emma sighs. "Well if you tell Henry where we are going you know he is going to come along, right?" she asks.  
"You better pack a bag for him too," I reply.  
Emma's eyes get wider. "Alright then. l'll let him know."

We are in Emma's yellow Volkswagen, crossing State lines.  
"Welcome to Maine," Henry reads out loud. "So what are we calling this?" he asks.  
"What are we calling what?" Emma asks.  
"This adventure," Henry replies impatiently, shocked that Emma didn't understand him right away. "It needs a name. A code name. Every good adventure has a code name. We can't call it 'operation rescue grandpa' or operation 'break the curse' because that its too obvious. We need a code name."  
"I'm no good with code names kid," Emma replies. "You name it."  
"Operation Goblin Shark," Henry replies.  
"What? What is that?" Emma asks.  
"It's a very freaky looking shark," Henry smiles. "Its the perfect code name. None will even suspect what we are talking about."  
"Wait, what are we talking about?" Emma asks.  
"Rescuing grandpa of course," Henry replies.  
"Oh, right. It is the perfect code name."Emma agrees. "Nobody will know what we are talking about. I barely know what we are talking about!"  
"Good," Henry replies. "We are off to a great start."

* * *

I thought I was done with Snowing stories. And then this concept popped in my head.  
Thank you so much for reading! If you have any reviews, thoughts, anything you'd like to talk about, I'm all ears.


	2. Chapter 2

"OK Mom. According to the map Storybrooke should be here but it's not. The GPS seems to be glitching and also, I can barely keep my eyes open. Can you take the wheel for a while?" Emma asks.  
"Sure thing" I say and we both get out of the car and change seats. Its drizzling outside so I turn on the windshield wipers. "Show me the map again?" I ask. But Emma has plopped on the passenger side and she is already asleep. After the initial excitement of naming the operation and giving us a list of spectacular deeds that Henry plans on accomplishing with his grandfather Henry has fallen asleep and he's been snoring for a couple of hours now.

I try to figure out exactly where we are on the map. I can't sort this out. I fold the map and I start the car. "Alright," I say and I'm not sure whether I'm talking to the open road, the forest, my long lost husband or to the general void. "The GPS isn't working so we are doing this the hard way. Where are you?" I ask. "Give me a sign!"  
Everything remains dark and perfectly still. No other cars, no gas stations, no signs of life, no one I can ask for directions. So I drive alone in the dark. And I'm starting to panic a bit. If Regina can come up with a whole new identity in this Land Without Magic, surely she could have come up with a fake address or a fake town to write on her drivers licence. I should have thought of this possibility before I dragged my daughter and my grandson out here in the middle of nowhere in the dark. I take deep breaths trying not to cry. "Come on," I whisper. "I know you are out there somewhere. Where are you? Please! Please talk to me?"

 _"How did you find me?"_  
 _"With this. My mother's ring. It lead me back to you."_

I glance at my ring in the dark. It's beautiful, but it's not glowing. "There's no magic here Charming," I mumble. There's no light in the end of the tunnel. Just me fumbling in the dark, trying to figure things out. Wondering which one of my mistakes you'll be unable to forgive. We should have burned that wardrobe to the ground, held each other tight until Regina's curse washed over us. We should have been together. All we ever wanted was to be together. We had a kingdom to protect, a daughter to raise. It wasn't up to us. We had to fight, for our people and our daughter. I didn't really have big dreams. All I ever wanted was us being able to raise our child together.  
I need to stop thinking about this. I need to pull myself together and keep driving, I think as tears stream down my face. I wipe my eyes and keep driving. Lightening strikes and then thunder. Emma jumps in her sleep.  
"What's happening," she mumbles and then she closes her eyes and falls back asleep.  
She will be fine, I decide. Even if this doesn't work, even if she doesn't ever meet you, she'll be fine. We'll get through this. And maybe after this failed attempt, I will just give up. I'll let go of the fairytale. And I'll resign to being a woman who lost her husband a long time ago. A whole other lifetime ago. Maybe I'll find love again.  
Lightening strikes again, followed by thunder.  
"My sentiments exactly." I mumble. I can't find love again. Not when things between us remain unresolved. Not if you are out there waiting for me to find you. As much as I want to let go, the memory of you and our fairytale means more to me than any new guy ever could.  
So maybe I'll just let go for the sake of the kids. So Emma and Henry can live normal lives. I'll let go for them. And let them be normal. I don't need to find love again. Somewhere deep inside me I know that even if I found love again, even if I gave up on you, somehow you'd understand and you'd forgive me. The problem with that realization is that it makes me love you even more. I'm crying so hard now that I know I can't keep driving. So I pull over to the side of the road. I turn the car off and I step out in the rain.  
"I'm sorry Charming," I whisper. The thought of letting you go just shatters my heart. "I don't know how to let you go. And I don't know where else to look. I'm stuck here alone in the dark. Just give me a sign! Tell me you are still out there!"  
I'm trying to calm down because Emma will wake up eventually and I don't want her to see me sobbing hysterically on the side of the road, but I can't. I can't sop crying. I wipe my eyes again and again, I take deep breaths. I raise my face towards the sky and I feel the raindrops mingling with my tears. Lightening strikes one more time and that's when I see it. About thirty feet ahead there's a large brown sign on the side of the road.  
"Welcome to Storybrooke" the sign reads.  
"That's it!" I yell. I jump up and down in the rain then I rush back in the car.  
I shake Emma gently. "I found it!" I say too loudly. I try to keep my voice down. "Emma wake up! I found it!"  
Emma opens her eyes, then she sees me her eyes open wide.  
"Mom! your hair is all all wet! What happened? Where you crying?"  
"Nothing much." I reply then I remember my resolution to always be honest with her. "I freaked out a little bit but I found Storybrooke. Everything is fine," I explain hastily, unwilling to discuss the details.  
"If you say so," she replies, concern written all over her face. "Mom, It's going to be Okay," she adds and she reaches for my hand. "No matter what happens we are going to be fine. You know that, right?"  
I turn around and smile at her. "Thank you," I say and I try hard not to cry again. "I love you so much!"  
"I love you too Mom!" Emma replies.

Storybrooke is one of those sleepy little towns. It is after midnight even though the clock tower in Main Street claims it is 8.15. I drive, looking around slowly. Everything is closed.  
"It looks just like an normal town," Emma notes. "Nothing out of the ordinary."  
I smile because I stopped believing in normal and ordinary a long time ago. Nothing is what it seems. There is no such thing as normal. Even the most ordinary people can be special when you get to know them. I used to look like an ordinary outlaw even though I was a princess. Your father looked and acted like a prince even though he used to be a shepherd. Normal can be very deceptive I think, but Emma looks too sleepy for this type of conversation, so I do not say anything out loud.  
There is a flickering neon sign for Granny's diner. And then a few buildings down there's Granny's Bed and Breakfast.  
"This Granny person seems to have a monopoly in this town," Emma smiles.  
"Do you think she will mind if we wake her up to get a room?" I ask.  
Emma shrugs. "Wake up kid! We made it!" Emma tells Henry then she walks to the back and grabs her bags of the trunk. I grab my small suitcase and I leave the sword in the trunk then I change my mind. I leave all my stuff in the car.  
We walk into the bed and breakfast reception and I ring the bell.  
Granny shows up in her pink robe with curlers in her hair. At the same time the entry door opens and Red shows up, in impossibly high heels, a short red skirt and a tight black shirt.  
"You are early," Granny quips and I can't tell if she is being sarcastic or sincere.  
"Red!" I gasp and I open my arms to hug her.  
She looks at me frowning.  
"Do I know you from somewhere?" she asks.  
"Red! It's me, Snow!" I smile. "I know its been a while and I cut my hair off, but its me!"  
Red tilts her head to looks at me, not a hint of recognition in her face. I notice her heavy eyeliner and her hoop earrings. She definitely doesn't dress like the Ruby I remember. I haven't seen her in twenty eight years. Shouldn't she look older? Shouldn't she be my age?  
"Name's Ruby," she replies, chewing her gum loudly. "I think you might have me confused with someone else."  
My mouth drops and I turn to Granny.  
"What can I do for you folks?" she says. "Do you need a room?"  
"Granny?" I try again.  
"That's what they call me. What can I do for you?" she asks. She doesn't recognize me either.  
Emma sensing that something is off, comes to my rescue.  
"Sorry to bother you this late," she smiles. We'd like two rooms please!"  
Granny looks at her all excited.  
"Really? Would you like a forest or a square view? Usually there's an upgrade fee for the square but as the rent is due I'll wave it."  
"Forest" I reply at the exact same time that Emma says"Square!"  
Granny glances at us above her glasses. "A forest and a square it is," she replies."Name?"  
"Blanchard," I reply hastily. "Mary Margaret Blanchard."  
"Didn't you just say your name was Snow?" Ruby asks eyeing me suspiciously.  
"Do not bother the customers," Granny replies sharply. "Clearly Snow is a nickname, am I right?" she asks.  
"Something like that," I reply grateful I do not have to make up a story in front of my daughter. "A name from another life," I smile looking at Granny willing her to remember me.  
"Right," she replies completely uninterested.  
"Do you still make those amazing blueberry pies?" I ask.  
Granny glances at me above her glasses once again and for a moment I think she is going to smile at me and say of course, blueberry pie is for when you want to stay up late for girl talk, cherry pie for when you want to discuss boy trouble. Just like she did, once she warmed up to me back in the Enchanted Forest. When Red and I were friends. Best friends.  
"Nope," she replies."My lasagna is what I'm famous for. I do not bake blueberry pies."  
I nod. She hands me two keys and and we head on upstairs. The rooms are old fashioned and cozy, with beautiful floral wallpapers and large mirrors mounted on the walls.  
"We could have just gotten one room," I say.  
Emma shakes her head. "Nope. You and Dad will probably need some privacy," she replies and I turn to look at her with my eyes wide open.  
"What?" she whispers. She glances towards Henry to make sure he is not listening and then she says "You think I didn't see that little hot red number you stuffed in your suitcase?"  
I blush and turn to unlock the door to my room.  
Emma walks up to me.  
"Mom! I'm sorry, I'm just teasing. If you need not to be alone tonight you can stay in our room," she says."We can share the bed, Henry can take the couch."  
"No it's fine," I smile. I know better than to agree to share a bed with Emma. She kicks and turns way too much in her sleep. Besides I'd rather be alone. She unlocks her room and lets Henry in. He practically sleepwalks straight to the bed and falls on top of the bedspread with his coat and shoes on and starts snoring right away.  
"Emma, you are exhausted too, go get some rest."  
Emma follows me to my room.  
"Wait, Mom." Did you really know Ruby?" she asks.  
"In our previous life her name was Red. As far as land without magic fairytales are concerned, you know her as Little Red Riding Hood," I explain.  
"Get out!" Emma says her eyes wide open. "Little Red Riding Hood? Wait, Granny is THE granny? The one that got eaten by the wolf?"  
"Kind of. Except when Granny was younger she was the wolf. And Red is also the wolf!"  
"What!" Emma says and she tries to keep her voice down. "She is like a werewolf?"  
"Kind of. More like a shapeshifter. Once she learned to control her powers she was harmless and quiet useful in a fight," I explain and Emma stares at me.  
"And you guys were friends?"  
"She was my best friend. And when your father and I fought to overthrow the Evil Queen and King George she fought with us. Both Red and Granny were members of our court. I trusted them more than I trusted anyone. Red and Grumpy were my two go to guys. Along with Blue of course."  
Emma looks at me with a newfound admiration. She's heard the stories before of course, but its completely different now that she has a face that goes along with those stories.  
"So how come she doesn't know you anymore?" Emma asks quietly.  
"That is the question isn't it?" I reply. "And how come she hasn't aged a day since I last saw her? Red was a year younger than me. She doesn't look a day older than twenty nine,"I sigh."Come to think of it Granny hasn't aged either."  
"So, you are saying that the people who are cursed didn't age?" Emma asks.  
I rub my temples with my fingers. The implications of this are so big, I do not want to talk about this anymore. Especially not with Emma.  
Emma yawns.  
"We'll figure this all out in the morning," I smile. "Won't you go get some rest."  
"Goodnight Mom!" she says and she kisses me on the cheek. She turns around and shuts the door behind her as she exits my room.  
I turn the lamp off and walk to the window. I watch the empty road, the forest and the dark parking lot. I don't see how I am going to get any sleep tonight. My hands are shaking and my heart is beating wildly. I wait a few more minutes to make sure that Emma doesn't come back to my room for anything, then I write a quick note and I leave it on the dresser, I grab my purse and the room key and step out.

Emma is right. At first glance Storybrooke appears to be nothing more than an ordinary town. There is a baker, a florist, a school, a hospital, a library. Nothing our of the ordinary. Nothing that screams town under fairytale curse. I walk briskly and I take in my surroundings while I try to work out some of this newly discovered disturbing details in my head. Red didn't age. Granny didn't age either, which means there is a large possibility that you are the same age you were when I left you. Which would make you just a couple years older than Emma. And that's fine, I tell myself. Age is just an inconsequential number.

 _"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"  
_  
And while I'm inclined to agree with you Charming, and say that twenty eight years are just a hick-up when you have eternal love, twenty eight years combined with the memory loss could be a very big deal. If you don't even recognize me, if you don't remember all the history we have together, would you even be happy for me to find you and tell you that you are married to a woman twenty eight years your senior? I look my self over at the glass display of the Pawnshop. I look younger than my age, but still I do not look thirty. Would you like to be married to a woman twenty eight years older than you if she looks younger than her age?  
We should have burned the wardrobe to the ground, we should have held each other and let Regina's curse wash over us. We should have entered Storybrooke's sweet oblivion together.  
And then another thought enters my mind. If you don't remember me, if you have no idea who I am, who is to say that you've spent the last twenty eight years alone? Maybe you got married. Maybe you had children. I feel my eyes well up with tears as I take a deep breath and decide right then and there that if you are married and have children I will not interfere with your new life. I will make sure that you are alive and happy, I will verify that Regina is not torturing you or hurting you in any way and then I will walk away and leave you be.  
We should have burned the wardrobe down, we should have held each other and let Regina's curse wash over us, I think one more time and then I freeze. Because right there in the glass display of the pawnshop I see a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. I'd recognize that bow and that quiver anywhere. Because that is my bow and my quiver and my arrows. In another time, another life, I shot a magical arrow with that very bow and you jumped in front of me and took the arrow to the chest to keep me from turning to darkness. In another time and another life back in the Enchanted forest I was Snow White. And I survived the wrath of my stepmother, the murder of my father, years as on outlaw, a sleeping curse, an infertility curse and a war, and through it all I managed to be happy, because I had you by my side. I was happy because you were mine.

"What's twenty-eight years when you have eternal love?"

Twenty eight years can be a slow death without you, Charming, I think and then I try to push that thought to the very back of my mind. Because I'm jumping ahead of myself. I need to take this one step at a time. I wish there was someone I could talk to. And just as I think that the door of the Rabbit Hole opens and out comes Grumpy stumbling towards me.  
I want to call out his name and throw myself in his arms, but I don't. He is pretty drunk, so I figure if I talk to him, it will be alright. He's not likely to remember our conversation in the morning.  
"Hi!" I say brightly. "And what might your name be?"  
He looks up at me, and his expression is so inquisitive, for a second there I think he must have recognized me, but I'm kidding myself of course.  
"I'm Leroy," he slurs. "Why, what's it to you, sister?" he asks.  
"I don't know. I just wanted someone to talk to," I reply quite truthfully.  
"Why, what is troubling a pretty girl like yourself?"  
It's been years since anyone has called me a girl so I look at him sadly.  
"I think my husband might not remember me..." I reply and my eyes well up with tears.  
"Your husband, huh?" he replies. "That's rough."  
"If you had a wife that loved you, but you hadn't seen her for a long time, and you didn't remember her, would you want her to come find you?" I ask.  
"A wife?" he asks. "It would be nice to have a wife. Wait, would she mind my drinking? Cause that could be a problem" he says and he almost looses his footing. I step up and help him stand up straight.  
"Probably."  
"Well, I'd like a wife irregardless," he says and he keeps on walking.  
"Now there's the catch," I continue.  
"Wait a minute... Wait... Wait a minute, there is a catch? I knew there'd be a cat, wait I knew there'd be a catch... Wait, what are we talking about sister?"  
"A catch," I explain patiently. Now that I know for sure he won't remember our conversation in the morning I can ask him more questions.  
"Do you remember living a previous life?" I ask.  
"You mean like reincarnation?"  
"Kind of, but not quite," I reply. "A life were you were a great hero, and you were in love with Nova, a beautiful fairy, and you were in Snow White's court...does any of these ring a bell?"  
"I don't know, you are talking too fast sister. I used to know a fairy once," he replies.  
"Do you remember your fairy?" I ask and my voice gets a bit louder because I feel so excited.  
"My fairy? What do you mean? You can't own fairies," he replies. "Everybody knows you can't own fairies."  
"I didn't mean that. It's a figure of speech. Do you remember Nova?"  
"Nova? Who is that? Do you want to know a secret?" he asks.  
"Of course " I am quick to reply.  
"I like this girl, sister, but it's not meant to be."  
"Why not?" I ask.  
"Because she's a nun. And nuns are unable...no unstable... no, that's not right... unavailable" he says after several tries.  
He pulls out his phone and he shows me a picture of the woman he likes.  
It's Nova alright. It's Nova, the fairy that he used to love in the Enchanted Forest. Except in this land she appears to be a nun. Equally unavailable and out of his reach and not a day older than the last time I saw her.  
"She is very pretty," I reply. "Are you at least friends?"  
"Sometimes," he replies sadly. "When I'm not drinking."  
"That's something," I sigh.  
"What's wrong sister?"  
"I used to be married," I reply.  
"What happened?"  
"I don't know yet, but I loved him so much," I reply and once again I start crying. "I loved him so much," I say one more time.  
"I understand, sister," he says and he places his hand on my shoulder. "I understand."  
I look at him and even though he doesn't quite know what is happening I find the presence of my old friend comforting. Somewhere deep inside this man who calls himself Leroy, is my friend Grumpy. And he somewhat understands what I am going through.  
A police car rolls up next to us and stops. The window rolls down. I look and I try not to show any excitement. Because right there on the driver's seat, wearing a sheriff's badge on his shirt is the Huntsman. He hasn't aged either. And he has no idea who I am.  
"Is everything alright here?" he asks. "Leroy, are you drunk? Ma'am is this man bothering you?"  
"Who, Leroy? No, of course not. He is my friend," I reply.  
"Really?" the Huntsman looks surprised.  
"Absolutely," I reply firmly.  
Leroy turns to look at me and for a second there he looks as if he is about to cry.  
"Alright then, " the Huntsman replies, he rolls up his window and drives away.  
"Did you mean that sister?" Leroy says and I have to hold back my tears and refrain from wrapping my arms around him.  
"I wouldn't have said it otherwise," I reply. "Anyway, I have to go." And then I just can't resist. I lean in and give him a quick kiss on his temple and then I walk back to Granny's Bed and Breakfast.  
I walk up the stairs fast, I take off my jacket and my shoes, and I lay down on the bed. The intense events of the day swirl around in my head and I drift off to sleep.

I wake up because Henry is in my room, shaking me awake.  
"What's happening?" I ask.  
"Its operation Goblin Shark," he says. "We can't start it without you so you have to wake up."  
"Right," I mumble and I rub my eyes. Emma walks in the room.  
"Henry!" she says and she sounds quite annoyed. "I told you she is tired. We should let her sleep!"  
"But she'd want me to wake her up so we can start the operation, right grandma?"  
"That's right," I answer and I stretch my arms.  
"Mom, its early, " Emma argues. "You should rest some more."  
"Too late, I'm awake now. Give me a minute to get dressed and then let's go have breakfast at Granny's" I reply.

I wash my face than I run my fingers through my hair, willing it to fall into place. I look tired, but my cheeks are flushed. I look like a woman in love, I realize. Or a woman in hope that love is still a possibility, I argue with myself. I put my jacket on then I grab my purse and my room key and I exit the room.  
"So, as far as I can tell everybody in this town has frozen in time. No one has aged. The sheriff is the Huntsman, Grumpy is now called Leroy and Nova, who used to be a fairy, is now a nun," I brief Emma on our way to Granny's.  
"How do you know all this? Did you go out again last night? Or rather this morning?" Emma asks.  
"I did. I have to get as much information as possible."  
"So my father, will probably be younger then?" Emma asks hesitantly.  
I sigh. "Probably," I reply.  
"Age is just a number, Mom," Emma offers, almost reading my thoughts.  
I nod. "I hope you are right," I say quietly.  
We walk in Granny's diner and sit at the booth in the corner.  
Ruby walks up to us, to take our order. Her pants are impossibly tight, her red shirt is short showing off her slim waist and her navel and I can't help but wonder what prompted such a personality change in my friend.  
She chews her gum loudly while she takes our order.  
We drink our coffee and let Henry enjoy his pancakes. And when we are all done I walk up to the counter to pay. Henry follows me. I look around the room to make sure no one can hear me then I lean closer to Granny and Ruby.  
"I'm wondering if you can help me out guys," I say quietly.  
"What is it?" Ruby asks, clearly intrigued by the conspiratorial look on my face.  
"I am looking for a guy, blond, blue eyes, really handsome, tall, he has a small scar on his chin..."  
"Hey I've been waiting for tall blond and handsome my whole life," Granny quips. "He hasn't come yet!"  
"Stop it Granny," Ruby says shaking her head. "Does he have a name?"  
"He used to go by David," I reply hesitantly because no one in this town is using their Enchanted Forest names and I can't think of what Charming's new name could be.  
"David, huh?" Ruby replies. "I don't know anyone named David, or anyone that tall with a scar on their chin..." she says. I thank her, I pay for breakfast and I am ready to walk away, trying to contain my disappointment, when Ruby says "Wait!" She turns to her grandmother. "What about John Doe?" she asks.  
"Who?" Granny asks.  
"The coma patient at the hospital. There's a man who no one knows who he is. He's pretty handsome, blond tall, can't tell you his eye color because he has yet to open his eyes. He might have a small scar. I can't remember."  
"You find a coma patient handsome? Is nobody safe with you girl?" Granny asks exasperated.  
Ruby rolls her eyes and doesn't reply.  
"A coma patient?" I ask and my heart starts beating wildly. My hands are shaking. Granny notices them so I quickly stuff them in my pockets."How long has he been in a coma?" I ask and my voice quivers.  
"Forever really," Ruby replies. "As long as I can remember."  
"Thank you, thank you so much," I say and I turn around and walk out of the diner. I am walking toward the hospital as fast as my feet can take me. Emma and Henry are running behind me, trying to catch up with me.  
"Mom!" Emma says loudly but I can't stop, I can't stop for Emma or Henry, I can't stop for anyone. He's been in a coma for twenty eight years. I was so upset last night, thinking about the age difference, and the lack of memories. I was so upset thinking he might have remarried. I was upset about what now seems to me silly insignificant things because he has been in a coma for twenty eight years. Can someone survive that long in a coma? Can I wake him up?  
Emma catches up to me and stands in my way.  
"Talk to me Mom!" she says. "Please!"  
I take a deep breath, trying to steady my voice. "According to Ruby, your father matches the description of a John Doe at the local hospital who has been in a coma for twenty eight years," I reply.  
Emma's eyes grow wider. "Let's go to the hospital then," she replies. "Come on kid," she says and she wraps her arms around Henry. "Operation Silly Goblin had officially begun."  
"You mean operation goblin shark!" Henry corrects her firmly.  
"Exactly," Emma says.  
I smile at Emma and Henry and I reach for Emma's hand. I thought all my training as a police officer would enable me to come here and investigate things calmly, stay detached from the situation and take it one step at a time. But ever since I started this "operation", I have fallen apart more times than I care to remember.  
I am standing in front of the hospital doors, steeling my nerves, willing myself to walk in. Because this might be the most important moment in my life.  
Emma places her arms on my shoulder.  
"Are you ready Mom?" she asks.  
Henry reaches for my hand.  
I nod several times before I manage to steady my voice enough to reply.  
"I'm ready."

* * *

Thank you for reading. Thank you for your generous reviews. I love talking to you and hearing from you so let me hear your thoughts!

_へ_(‾◡◝ )

 **kaykay25 chapter 1 Can't wait for more. Love it so far**

Thank you!

 **GreenDragonMage chapter 1 Yes,new story.I can't wait to read this.  
**  
Me too.I'm really excited about this!

 **tammy henson chapter 1 Please please update soon**

Im trying,I'm trying. I updated already. :)

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 1 Please don't ever been done with Snowing stories. You are too amazing at them. Helps keep them alive. I am so in love with this story already. Can't wait to see what happens when they get to Story broke. I can only imagine Regina's face.**

Thank you. I think I will run out of ideas eventually... But thank you, You are too kind.

 **Austenphile chapter 1 . Apr 5 I am glad you are still writing Snowing stories. And this one is quite interesting. I like how you had Snow think about all that had happened to her in those 28 years. Because realistically she had vastly outgrown David by having a lifetime of experiences he has never had, including ones like parenting that he never will. It will be interesting to see them acknowledge these obstacles. Of course, they still love each other and it will not matter her age to David.**

 **But honestly, I am not that old and I would not like to be married to the version or my husband from when we were first married. It would be a mess because I have outgrown that person. Thankfully he grew with me. It is why I have never liked even older men and younger women stories. You are not even on the same page at those stages in your life unless the older one is extremely immature, which Snow is not. I cannot wait to see how you handle all these tests of their love.**

Yes. I both agree and disagree with you. You make excellent points. But have you read the time traveler's wife? I really love the book and the reason I love it because (spoiler alerts!) even though they are having serious infertility problems they manage to stay together partly because when he accidentally time travels he keeps running into her younger self who is head over heels in love with him and she keeps getting visits from his younger self too. The younger self who sees her as too good to be true. So those accidental encounters keep reminding them the initial spark and fresh love they had for each other. Which keeps them going now when they cannot stand each other sometimes.  
One of the things I keep telling my husband is "Don't you wish that your twenty one year old self and I could have had some fun together?" He doesn't, but I do. Because i'm a lot more relaxed and fun and adventurous now than I was back then...and I wish I could give his younger self that.

You are right Snow has a lifetime of experiences without David but she's been alone. has she outgrown him? Can you outgrow love, the kind of love willing to die for you over and over again?

 **Guest chapter 1 . Another Snowing story from you means I got lucky. Like the way you make Snow a cop. I can already hear a theme song from one of the old TV cop shows. You found a way to make Snow a badass in the modern age. I don't know if you plan to de age Snow but I hope you have a way to make them same age. I don't like difference in age because I think it indicates an inability of one of the partner's to relate to peers. I take it back, in your hands you will do it justice. By the way, like the way you have Neal avoid them. Guess he knows thier origins because Emma believes.**

Another review from you means I got lucky. Thank you for reading, thank you for "getting" my stories and thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate you!  
The age difference is what I am currently finding fascinating about this story. You see I read a lovely fanfic in which the writer had Snow kind of loose faith and not explain things to Emma in when Emma finds the truth she is twenty eight and doesn't believe. And Snow is overwhelmed by the age difference she doesn't try to do anything past being friends with David. And I loved that fanfic but then I thought why not try the opposite? Emma believes and Snow tries to rise past the age gap. And let's see where this takes us.

OK Friends, here is the thing.I often respond to your reviews quickly and say what I feel at the moment. My opinions are not set in stone. I am quite often wrong and have to take things back or in the course of the story I might have to go places where I didn't initially think I was going. I am grateful for your reviews because they force me to clarify and decide what I'm saying THANK YOU!


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm ready" I reply.  
I am very aware of every step I take as we walk through the hospital doors. And that's when I see her. My stepmother, the Evil Queen. Her hair is much shorter and perfectly coiffed, her blazer and pencil skirt are tailored and immaculate. She sounds firm and poised. She hasn't aged either.  
"What do you mean you don't know who they were? Did you ask Leroy?" she asks and I realize that she is talking to the Huntsman who looks taller than I remember, still wearing his sheriff badge.  
"Of course I did, Mayor Mills" the Huntsman replies,"but Leroy was drunk out of his mind last night. He doesn't recall meeting anyone."  
"Well I'm not happy Sheriff. I'm not happy at all!" Regina replies as she crosses her arms.  
I grab the first thing I see in front of me, which happens to be a copy of the Storybrooke Daily mirror, I sit on a chair in the waiting area and I pretend to be deeply enthralled in the reading material in front of me.  
 _"Do you have free time? Volunteer at our local hospital!"_ the article at the top of my newspaper page reads.  
Emma follows my cue and stands casually in front of me, partially obstructing my view, ensuring that Regina will not see me. Henry just sits next to me and smiles.  
"The Evil Queen is at your eight 'o clock," I whisper, "the Huntsman at your six."  
Emma slowly turns her head and throws them a quick assessing glance then she turns around and makes a face at me.  
"Mayor!" she whispers.  
The fact that Regina's made herself the Mayor of this cursed little town doesn't surprise me at all. What better way to keep everything and everyone under her control?  
"There is no danger Mayor Mills I assure you" the Huntsman can be heard replying. "Whoever those people were, they were just passing trough, I'm sure they are gone by now."  
"Well I hope you are right, Sheriff," she states coldly. "Because I do not like strangers in my town."She turns around and I can hear the sound of her high heels walking out of the hospital doors.  
The sheriff's shoulder drop. He seems exhausted, I feel really bad for him but he has no idea who I am and he is not my main concern. He walks away too and that is when I get up. How will I get to Charming if Regina already knows there are strangers in her town and she is having the Sheriff looking for them? If I just walk up to the information desk and ask them where they are keeping John Doe, won't that get back to Regina somehow?

"Where are you?" I whisper. "Give me a sign!" I glance at my ring that still refuses to glow or flicker. I take a deep breath then I head right through the hallway. I walk up a flight of stairs.  
"Wait Mom," Emma says. "Shouldn't we check with information? He could be anywhere!"  
"Of course" I reply and I keep walking.  
"Mom?" Emma says once again.  
"Shhh!" Henry says. "Don't you see what's happening? Grandma is in the zone!"  
"The what?' Emma asks.  
"She is going to find him. She can feel him! It's her destiny!" Henry replies.  
Emma frowns,"I don't think that's how it works kid. This is the land without magic after all!"  
I ignore both of them as I walk through the third door on the right. There are two rows of hospital beds, most of them empty, only two of the beds occupied by patients and in the back there's a glass room where a man lays in a hospital bed alone. I gasp and raise my hand to my mouth. I will my self to stay calm and breathe. I breath in and out, in and out, in and out. I lean against the wall because I do not trust my legs to hold me up right. There he is, laying in a glass room, just like I laid in a glass coffin once. When he found me.  
My heart beats so loudly I'm surprised that I'm the only one that can hear it.  
I manage to peel my eyes away from him long enough to survey the main room. There is a camera pointing to the back wall and that's going to be a problem. It shouldn't be too hard to turn it though.  
"I'm going to need a distraction," I say, my voice coming out all raspy, "preferably over there."  
Emma looks at the back of the room, the man laying there behind glass, all alone. Then she looks back at me.  
"Is that him? How did you do that?" she asks looking right at me.  
"I'm going to need a distraction," is all I can bring myself to reply.  
Emma looks at the man behind the glass one more time, her lips tugging up in a soft smile. Then she looks back at me.  
"Right, a distraction" she says. "Come on kid!" .  
Emma and Henry lean on the wall at the opposite corner of the camera and then Emma says "no, no, no. I think you said it wrong. Try Again."  
"I didn't say it wrong." Henry replies.  
"You messed up the punchline!" Emma insists.  
"I didn't."  
"How can the three penguins be at the bar and at the beach at the same time?" Emma asks.  
"Because of the time machine!"  
"What time machine? You didn't say anything about a time machine," Emma argues.  
Both patients in the room are watching Emma and Henry's animated discussion and nobody notices me as I roll up the Daily Storybrooke Mirror, reach up and slowly use the newspaper to push the camera to the left.  
I look at Emma and nod.  
"So what, the penguins went through a time portal and took their drinks with them? Wouldn't their ice melt?" Emma asks.  
I walk slowly to the glass room, my heart thumping, my hands shaking so badly I can barely open the door. I close the door gently behind me. Time stands still. There he is, laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to an iv, a heart monitor and one more machine that I don't recognize. I watch his chest rise and fall as I make my way slowly towards him. I reach the bed. His arm feels cold to my touch. I hesitate, then I brush his cheek with my finger. I lean over him, cupping his face with my hands.  
"Charming!" I say quietly. "I found you!"  
I don't realize that I'm crying until my tears drop on his face. I wipe them away then I lean in and I give him a whisper of a kiss. I pull back and study his face. He looks exactly like he did the last time I saw him. He hasn't changed one bit. His eyes remain closed and his breathing even. He is not waking up.  
I kiss him one more time and in that kiss I try to convey all the love and the longing I've felt for him these past twenty eight years. True love's kiss. This has got to work. It has to. But nothing changes. His breathing remains even, his eyes closed.  
"Wake up Charming! Please!" I whisper. "Come back to me!"  
He doesn't move. And in that moment I can feel my heart break in thousands, no, millions of pieces. I lean on his chest and I let my self sob. For twenty eight years, I remained strong, first for Emma, then for Emma and Henry. I learned to hold my emotions in check. I learned to be patient. I learned to study situations calmly, I learned to problem solve, I learned to watch cases unfold objectively without letting anyone know how I truly felt. I thought I could come here and apply those same principles. I thought could be calm, maintain control, not get my hopes up, handle the situation just one step at a time. But ever since I saw Regina's face on my computer screen yesterday I seem to have lost the self control that I've cultivated over the years. I've fallen apart more times in the last two days that I have in that last twenty eight years combined.  
And seeing my husband laying here, all alone, unable to wake up, completely undoes me. I grab onto his hospital gown with my fists, I bury my face in his chest and I weep. Soundless breathless sobs wrack my body and ravage my soul. I cry more tears than I've ever let myself cry before. I take a deep breath and I as I breathe him in I remember, our castle, our forest, all the nights we held each other by the fire, all the mornings we woke up together, his enthusiasm when I realized I was pregnant with Emma, the sheer joy of falling asleep in his arms every night. And I feel the pain of the years I spent alone working cases, raising Emma, watching Henry grow up, fade away like a black and white movie that I watched and though it was intense at the time it wasn't quite real. Because I wasn't alone, I realize. I've never been alone. He's been here all along, loving me. Waiting for me to wake him up. I have to wake him up. Except I don't know how.  
I wipe my eyes then I look at all the tear stains I left on his green hospital gown.  
"I really messed up your clothes" I say and I smile. "Sorry about that." I lift up his hand and I kiss it a couple of times, then I let go and I sit next to him on the bed.  
"A lot of things have happened since the last time I saw you," I say. "I went through the portal with Emma, and it was very confusing in the land without magic at first. I had to get an identity. Pretend that I was born here. My official name here is Mary Margaret Blanchard. Then I saw how big this realm is Charming. It's so big, you could hardly believe it. So I realized I had to get to work. I hat to get organized and figure out how to find you. It was really hard at first. I had to take college courses and pass several tests. I had to go to the police academy. What surprised everybody was how good I was at self defense and hand to hand combat. I mean, I could sword fight too but nobody asked me if I could do that. I had to learn how to handle fire arms. You know how good my aim is. People were surprised when they found out I was an excellent marskman. So I became a police officer. And I spent every minute of my spare time looking for you... Emma did too. You will be so proud of her..." I talk and I talk and I get so may things off my chest. And even though I realize I'll have to explain everything again later once he is actually awake I talk some more anyways. I tell him about my first injury in the line of duty, the small scar I still have on my arm, the purple heart I received, how I could have been promoted but I chose not to because I needed more free time to work on my research. There are events and stories that I had completely forgotten and I had no idea that I saved them in the back of my mind so I could share them with him when I found him. Like the prank I played on my partner on my second year on the force. The cake I baked on Emma's seventh birthday that turned out lopsided. The time Henry got a new water gun and waited patiently under my bed for three hours to get me soaking wet. Hours and hours pass and I'm still sitting there talking. I glance at my watch. It's almost dinner time. I completely forgot about Emma and Henry who are still sitting outside, waiting patiently for me to join them.  
"I need t go now. I need to tell Emma and Henry what is going on, and send them to get dinner and then I will be right back I promise."  
I look at his face and I smile and then my heart stops because his hand has risen and is now clasping my hand.  
"David!" I say. "Charming! You are waking up!"  
My first instinct is to call the doctor and inform him but then I think twice about it. What if his comma is not magic induced but medically induced? Regina was here earlier ordering the Sheriff around. What if she is having the doctor keep him asleep? I can't tell anybody in the hospital that he is waking up. I'm going to need a really good plan. I wait around for another hour, waiting to see if he will fully wake up but he doesn't. So I get up slowly, I lean over and kiss him one more time than I promise that I'll be back as fast as I can and I walk out of the room.  
Emma and Henry are very excited to see me. We step out to the hallway. I want to to send them to get dinner but Emma insists that I join them. I tell them my plan. Emma's eyes get bigger but she doesn't disagree.  
"I'll do what you ask Mom under one condition. You are going to come have dinner with us, then you are going to the room to take a shower and a nap before you come back to the hospital."  
"But your father could wake up any minute!" I argue.  
"You heard my terms Mom!" she says firmly.  
"I can't leave him!" I say quietly. "What if he wakes up and I'm not there?"  
"If you had gone to bed last night Mom I wouldn't be insisting. But did you do that? No. You spent all night wondering the streets, talking to old friends. You are exhausted. You need some real rest and sitting by a hospital bed is emotionally draining and not restful. So, do we have a deal?" she says and I know there's no use arguing further with her.  
"Fine." I reply.  
"Good," she says. "Henry will stay with you to make sure you stick to our deal."  
I shake my head. I do not need to be monitored, I want to argue, but the truth is that I love spending time with Henry which is precisely why Emma is suggesting this.  
"Alright" I say and I wink at Henry.  
He winks back.  
"You distraction was amazing by the way," I say and he laughs.  
"Anytime grandma," he smiles.

I stay in the room with Henry. We order pizza and he plays a game on his phone while I take a quick shower and lay down. The moment I lay my head on the pillow I fall asleep But this sleep is not restful.  
 _I am walking through a forest, I do not recognize, my feet are bare. I am cold alone and confused. I am looking for someone. Not someone. A woman. A woman that is very important to me. I want to call her, but I can't remember her name. "Find me" I whisper. "Please, find me". I look down and I realize I am not wearing clothes, just a hospital gown. I am so cold, "Help!" I try to yell but my voice is hoarse. It is getting darker. I trip on a root I didn't see and I fall down at the edge of a stream. I am cold and wet and too exhausted to move, I can't call for help. My face is getting wet and I have a hard time breathing. Where is she? Where did she go? I don't want to die here, alone. "Find me" I whisper one last time as the the world around me goes dark._  
I jump up on my bed.  
"Grandma? Are you alright?" Henry asks.  
"Where is your mother? I need to head back to the hospital. Right now!"  
"She is not here yet!"  
"Well, call her, tell her to drop what she is doing. This is an emergency. I think David is in trouble."  
Henry dials Emma's number while I put on my shoes.  
"Come on, we got to go!" I yell and I ran out of the room.  
Henry follows right behind me.  
"Mom says she is right around the corner. She will meet us at the hospital."  
"Good" I reply and I'm running now.  
Emma is waiting for us.  
"What's wrong?" she asks.  
"No time to explain," I say as I rush up the stairs."Did you find anything?"  
"I did," Emma replies. "I didn't expect to find anything but I did. There's an abandoned farmhouse by the edge of town. It has running water but no electricity though."  
"Good," I reply. "We just have to buy a generator. Add that to the list."  
"Sure thing Mom," Emma replies then she stops in her tracks.  
Because the Sheriff is in the hospital room along with two men I recognize as Sleepy and Dopey and they are having an animated discussion. And David is not in his glass room.  
"We need to find out what's happening without them seeing me at all," I whisper.  
"Got it." Emma replies. "Wait here." She walks straight up to the Sheriff, she pulls out her badge. "I'm officer Emma Cassidy from the Boston PD. Do you mind telling me what's going on here?" she asks, her voice full of confidence. As if this little hospital is totally within her jurisdiction.  
"Boston PD?" the sheriff looks at her surprised. "Aren't you a little far away from home?"  
"Very funny Sheriff...What do I call you?"  
"Sheriff Graham,"  
"Right, Sheriff Graham, listen I am investigating a missing person case and I was told that you've had a John Doe here for quite awhile, so do you mind telling me where he is?"  
"Well, officer Cassidy, your guess is as good as mine."  
"Excuse me?"  
"John Doe apparently woke up a few hours ago, he got up and he left. And since the camera was moved," sheriff Graham says glaring at Sleepy, we have no way of knowing exactly when he got up and left."  
"He woke up, just like that?"Emma asks.  
"Just like that," Sheriff Graham replies.  
"Well there are other cameras in the building. Which way did he go?"  
"He must have gotten down the back door, and apparently the back door camera has been broken for weeks," Graham replies again glaring at Dopey this time.  
"Where does the back door lead?" Emma asks.  
"The woods," Sheriff Graham replies.  
"Thank you," Emma replies and she tilts her head to the door, signaling for us meet her outside.  
"Let's get to the car," I say as soon as we meet her.  
"What? Why? You don't know where he is."  
"There is a stream right there, he is at the stream," I say pointing out at the "scenic routes of Storybrooke" map I grabbed at Granny's Bed and Breakfast reception. "The fastest way to get there is if you drive to the toll bridge," I explain."Let's go!"  
Emma looks at me ready to argue that there is no way for me to know where he is, but then she says, "let's go!"  
We are driving to the toll bridge, when Emma says,"Mom? How do you even know where he is?"  
"I had a dream," I mumble.  
"I'm sorry," she replies. "If I hadn't insisted you got some rest..."  
"This isn't your fault, Emma" I reply gently but firmly. "None of this is your fault."  
Emma sighs and looks unconvinced.  
"There it is!" I yell so loudly Emma jumps and slams on the breaks.I point to the sign for the toll bridge.  
"Sorry," I mumble and before Emma gets a chance to say anything I grab the emergency flashlight form her glovebox compartment, I jump out of the car and I start running.  
"Mom wait up!" Emma yells. She parks the car then I can hear her and Henry running behind me.  
"David!" I yell. "Charming where are you?"  
Emma is next to me now panting.  
"Look, " I point out at the broken brunch. "He's been through here. I follow the very faint foot marks that I see on the ground.  
Emma looks at me her eyes full of admiration and concern. She doesn't have my extensive Enchanted Forest tracking experience. She can't see what I'm seeing and clearly I'm emotional so she's not sure I can be trusted at the moment. Besides, there is no guarantee that David was the one who walked through here. It could have been a hiker, or just about anybody else, really.  
"I'm fine," I try to reassure her even though the high pitched tone in my voice might indicate otherwise.  
Another broken branch and a footprint on the ground. "He fell down" I point out. "Where is the stream? Shouldn't we have reached the stream by now?" I say loudly. "David!" I yell. I'm running again and then I see it. A small plastic blue armband on the ground. Emma picks it up. "John Doe," the armband reads.  
"You are right Mom. We are hot on his trail," Emma says, a hint of surprise in her voice.  
"He's bleeding," I whisper because there is a red smudge at the edge of the band.  
"Don't worry Grandma" Henry pipes in. "You 'll find him in time."  
I run faster and then a few feet ahead I hear the water and I see him laying there in the stream, his back turned to me.  
"There he is," I scream. I run and kneel to his side and I reach for him. He is unconscious. He is cold and soaking wet.  
"Come on," I yell, "we have to move him!"  
Emma rushes to grab him by the arm. I grab him on the other side. Henry lifts up his legs. We struggle to carry him a few feet over where the ground is dry.  
"Careful," I whimper -over and over, "Careful, careful! Be careful!"  
We finally place him down on the ground.  
"He's not breathing," I say and I can feel tears streaming down my face.  
"Henry come here!" Emma takes a few steps backwards and she pulls the boy in her arms and covers his face. "Henry don't look Okay? Don't look." Just in case.  
I place my lips on his and breathe air in his lungs then I press on his chest. "One, two, three, four, five."  
During the course of my career I have performed CPR countless of times, I have rescued people and responded to hundred of emergencies. And now I am here, my husband laying frozen on the ground, my hands shaking, tears streaming down my face. Nothing in all my training could have prepared me for this.  
"Wake up!" I plead and I breathe air into his lungs again."One two three four five," I press his chest again then I lean in and instead of breathing air in his mouth I kiss him.  
"Come back to me," I whisper. "Charming! Come back to me!" I beg and that's when he coughs. His body shakes violently and he turns his head and coughs up water.  
I am laughing through my tears, my heart beating wildly. I feel so relieved.  
I can hear Emma yelling"you did it!" and Henry saying something but I don't spare them a glance. My eyes are solely focused on David who is now struggling to breathe. I cradle his head in my arms so he won't fall back on the ground.  
He looks at me and he says "you saved me," and he doesn't understand that by the mere act of him opening his eyes he is actually saving me. I have waited so long for this moment.  
I smile, tears still streaming down my face.  
"She did it. She did it, she woke him up," Henry says loudly.  
"Thank you," David whispers.  
"Do you know who you are?" I ask. I realize I'm being selfish but I have to know if he remembers me, if he remembers anything at all.  
"I don't know," he replies and he looks so confused, my heart aches for him.  
"It's okay," I reply trying to sound reassuring, "you are going to be okay."  
I check him all over. Turns out the blood I found in his armband was just from a small scratch on his arm.  
Emma is now standing next to me.  
She hesitates. "Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" she asks.  
I shake my head. "We should but we can't trust them," I reply. "This is Regina's town. We can't let him anywhere near her."  
"Alright Mom. How do you want to handle this?"  
"We can carry you," I turn to David, "or maybe we can help you stand up."  
He nods.  
"Help me lift him up," I say.  
So Emma places his arm around her neck and I do too.  
We help him up slowly.  
"How are you doing?" I ask as I place my arm on his back.  
He just looks at me and nods.  
"Should we keep going? Or lay you back down?"  
"Keep going," he says quietly.  
So we slowly make our way to Emma's car.  
We help him sit on the passenger side and he leans back and closes his eyes.  
Emma grabs an emergency foil blanket from the trunk and wraps it around his shoulders.  
"Now what?" Emma asks.  
"You know what," I reply.  
"Are you sure about this Mom?" she asks.  
"We don't have a choice," I reply.  
"Alright," she says and she starts the car.  
I lean over and buckle David in the seat. He opens his eyes and he looks at me.  
"I know this all looks and feels really strange," I say quietly. "But I'm here now. I found you. I'll take care of everything," I add and then without really thinking I cup his face and kiss him on the forehead. He reaches for my hand and squeezes it.  
I sit right behind him in the car and I place my hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "Let's go," I say.  
Emma drives to the abandoned farmhouse she discovered a few hours earlier. It's clear that nobody has been here for years. Emma kicks the front door open. There are a couple of forgotten candles on a wooden table. Emma lights them then she comes back to get us.  
"There's a bedroom with a half decent bed inside," she explains.  
"Alright" I say as I reach for David. "Just a few more steps."  
He nods. Once again we help him up. We take him inside the farmhouse past the kitchen to the bedroom. There's an old bed in the corner of the room. We help him sit then I look around making a mental note of everything we will need.  
"So we are going to need blankets, sheets pillows, towels. Pajamas, a couple of shirts underwear. Soap, crackers, bread, more candles..." my list goes on and on and Emma doesn't complain as I add more and more things to it.  
"Don't worry about finding a generator tonight. Let's get one tomorrow," I add. "Do you have enough money?"  
"I think so," Emma says.  
"Here," I say and I reach for my card. I end up handing her my wallet. "I have a couple of hundred dollar bills. And you can use my card. My red card, its for emergencies. Do you remember my pin?"  
"Dont worry Mom, I got this," Emma smiles then she lets her eyes linger at her father. She smiles.  
"This is actually happening," she says. "I can hardly believe it!"  
David's eyes are closed.  
Whenever his eyes are closed I panic thinking he might not wake up again.  
Henry storms in. "The operation goblin shark headquarters are great!" he says all excited. "Can I sleep on the couch tonight?"  
"Let's try to keep it down," I reply, glancing towards David's direction.  
"There is no couch," Emma replies. "You and I are going back to Granny's. We'll let your grandmother have some alone time with her...-"  
I shoot a warning glare at her and she stops. "What? You are going to have to tell him eventually!" she says.  
"Tell me what?" Henry says.  
"Not you kid," Emma sighs. "Fine. We are going to go buy the whole store that grandma wants us to buy and we'll be back as soon as we can." She grabs Henry by the shoulders and she exits the room.  
"Emma, wait!" I say and I start following her out of the bedroom when sudden movement from the bed catches my eye.  
David is not asleep after all. "Are you coming back?" he asks.  
"Yes! I'm not going anywhere," I say and I rush out of the room. "Emma wait!" I yell.  
"What is it?" Emma asks.  
"Don't buy things from Storybrooke. There's a town a few miles over. Go there. You don't want to attract that sort of attention," I explain.  
"Sure thing Mom," she replies.  
"Emma," I say quitetly. "I know you've waited your whole life for this, but I need to tell him things slowly. Do you understand?" I ask and I can feel my eyes well up with tears.  
Emma's expression softens. "I understand. And I also understand that you need time alone with him. So we are going to give you space the next couple of days. But if you need anything, even in the middle of the night you call me alright? I am here to help!"  
"Oh Emma," I say and I hug her tightly. "Now how did I get such a strong mature daughter like you?" I ask and she kisses my cheek.  
"You've waited for a long time for this Mom," she replies. "Don't hold back!" she adds then she grabs Henry's hand and she exits the room.  
Being a police officer who handles emergency situations all the time means that Emma has all sort of things in the trunk of the car. Things that most people don't carry around. She walks over to her car, opens her trunk and then she comes back to the kitchen with all these potentially useful items. She has snacks,bottled water, a blanket, a towel, paper towels,soap, matches, a flashlight, bandaids, an emergency kit. She leaves everything on the kitchen table. She also hands me my suitcase and the case that contains the sword.  
"I'll see you in a bit Mom," she says and she walks out of the farmhouse.

I walk back to the bedroom. David's eyes are open. He seems relieved to see me.  
"How are you feeling? Are you cold?" I ask and I walk over and touch his forehead. He looks at me and I can feel my heart beating faster. "Let me see if I can get a fire going. We need to warm you up."  
There's an old wood burning stove in the corner of the room.  
There's a couple of forgotten logs stacked against the wall. I rip pieces of the Daily Storybrooke mirror, and I place it in the stove. I place the logs on top then I use a lighter to light the newspaper. It takes a couple of tries but I get the fire going.

I walk around the house. There's an old kettle in the kitchen. I turn on the faucet and I'm surprised that there's water coming out and it looks pretty clear.  
I survey the house. Its perfect really. It consists of a small kitchen a bedroom and a bathroom that has a tub.  
I walk back in the bedroom. David is still awake.  
"How are you feeling?" I ask.  
"Better," he replies.  
I sit on the side of his bed.  
He makes a move as if he is going to reach for my hand then he stops himself.  
"So, Emma is your daughter?" he asks.  
I nod and smile tentatively.  
"And Henry is your...?"  
"My grandson," I reply quietly.  
"I'm sorry, I don't know your name," he says.  
"Mary Margaret " I reply and then I wonder why I didn't tell him that my name is Snow.  
"And you have a...are you...do you have a husband?" he asks. Blunt and to the point.  
"I lost my husband twenty eight years ago," I reply quietly.  
There is a war raging behind my heart and my brain. My heart aches to tell him the truth but my brain is holding me back. I don't know how to tell him what's happening. I can't tell him, not yet. I can't tell him that he's married to a woman twenty eight years his senior, can I? And yet part of me is glad he asked me if I have a husband. Because maybe he's asking trying to figure out if I'm available. Or maybe he's trying to figure out how we fit together.  
He frowns and then he nods.  
"And how do we know each other?" he asks and I can't, I just can't answer this question. Not yet.  
"We've known each other for a very long time," I reply.  
He nods again, his eyes scanning my face for answers, real answers.  
"We can talk about all this tomorrow," I smile. "Wouldn't you like to get some rest?"  
He looks at me almost disappointed.  
"I don't think I could sleep right now," he says quielty.  
"Well, let's see if you can keep food down," I reply. I find an juice box in all the emergency supplies that Emma left for me.  
I place the straw in the juice box and I hand it to him. His hand feels so cold still.  
He stares at it all confused.  
"Its really different, I know. Just drink from the straw," I explain.  
I look at the other supplies Emma left. There's a couple of towels among them.  
"You are still cold, too cold. How about I draw you a warm bath until Emma gets back with more blankets?" I ask.  
He nods again.  
I'd forgotten how much work it is to draw a bath without electricity and an actual water heater. But I am grateful for all the extra work because it keeps me busy and unable to answer David's questions.  
I rinse the tub really well, I rinse the tea kettle, the I heat water, one pot at a time on top of the wood heater. It is a slow process and I can feel David's eyes burning a whole on my back as I move about the room.  
"It's ready," I say and I walk over to the bed to help him up. My hands are shaking, my cheeks are flushed and I wonder if he can hear my heart beat as we make our way slowly to the tub. I turn around as he drops the emergency foil blanket on the ground, takes off his hospital gown and sits in the tub. Without giving my self time to think twice about what I'm doing I grab a washcloth and soap and I start scrubbing his back gently. He is calm and relaxed not surprised at all by what I'm doing. As if he is completely used to letting strange women bathe him in abandoned farmhouses. He turns his head to the right and for a second his face is so close to mine, my heart is thundering. He leans as if he might kiss me, then he swallows twice and he pulls back. I feel both disappointed and relieved and I am so angry with myself because my actions aren't making any sense. I am trying to stay away and finding reasons to be right next to him at the same time. My head is spinning as I step around and start washing his shoulders and his arms. As I wash his chest I notice a scar on his side and I try not to gasp. I was right. He did get stabbed by the black knights while he fought to give me time to travel away through the closet. He is staring at my face as I hold back my tears. And when I'm finished washing his chest I hesitate. I can feel the blood rushing up to my face coating my cheeks red. He is looking right at me then he smiles and takes the washcloth from my hand. I nod and I walk out of the bathroom.

"We are back!" Emma yells. She walks in the house her hands filled with bags and packages, followed by Henry. "I got pretty much everything," Emma smiles and she places her bags on the kitchen table. "How are things going? Wait, where is he?" she asks glancing through the door at the empty bed.  
"He is doing fine. He is taking a bath," I explain.  
"Well? What are you doing here?" Emma whispers. "Go help him wash his back!" she says, a big teasing smile on her face.  
My face turns bright red and she laughs.  
"Oh my goodness Mom! You already did, didn't you? You are just too cute!"  
I don't reply. I just go through the stuff Emma brought. I find a pair of pajama pants, a t-shirt, a pair of underwear and a large fluffy towel and I walk in the bathroom and place them next to the tub.  
"Here's some clothes for when you are ready to come out," I say quietly. "Call me if you you need help."  
"Thank you Mary Margaret!" he replies as I walk out.  
I go back to the kitchen and I find sheets and pillows and a comforter and I set about making the bed.  
Emma follows me into the bedroom.  
"Mary Margaret?" Emma whispers. "Why didn't you tell him you are Snow White?" she asks. And then she shakes her head. "Mom, you are acting like a middle schooler who has a crush. Just get in there and tell him the truth because I'd like to meet my father!"  
"Keep your voice down," I whisper. "You are absolutely right. I am being ridiculous. I just..."  
"Mom!" she says and then she hesitates. "I can't decide whether to hug you or scold you," she says but the pathetic look on my face makes her pity me instead.  
"What happened to the strong woman who taught me to love and to believe in fairytales? To believe that love will win?" Emma asks while wrapping her arms around me.  
"She...I don't know. Apparently she was really good at making speeches. Really bad at putting them into practice!" I reply as I motion her to help me place the fitted sheet on the mattress.  
"I refuse to believe that," she replies and in that instant I smile because she has no idea how much she sounds just like her father. "I want you to take a look in the mirror and see how beautiful you are. Any man would be lucky to call you his wife. Then I want you to march in there and tell him the truth!" she says and I look away.  
"I don't l know if I can..."  
"Well, I tell you what. I'll give you a couple of days to do this on your own and then I will unleash Henry and his operational goblins on you guys. He'll blurt out the truth in no time."  
"Alright," I agree.  
"Mary Margaret!" David calls me from the bathroom.  
Henry walks in with the last of the groceries.  
"What's happening?" he asks.  
I walk back to the bathroom to find David all dressed looking at himself in the mirror.  
"Sorry, I'm a bit dizzy," he says as he turns to face me. I rush over and I place his arm around my shoulder and my arm around his back.  
"Where am I taking you?" I ask. "Do you want back on the bed or do you want to step outside to get some fresh air?"  
"Let's go outside," he replies.  
We slowly make our way to the front door. Emma is standing in the kitchen smiling at us.  
"Hi Emma!" David says. "Hi Henry!"  
"Hello," Emma smiles her sweetest smile, her eyes are filled with love and longing.  
"Hi there gra...-" Henry starts to say but Emma is quick to place her hand on his mouth and turn him towards the door.  
"We are going to go now Henry, because you grandma has some 'splaining' to do!" Emma says brightly in her best Desi Arnaz voice and she pulls Henry out of the farmhouse in a hurry. "See you later Mom!" she yells. "Call me if you need anything!"  
David looks at me questioningly wondering what prompted this hasty retreat.  
I shrug. "Those two!" I say smiling. "Never a dull moment!"  
David doesn't look satisfied with my non explanation but he doesn't press the issue further. We walk together slowly to the front door and sit on the wooden bench that's leaning against the wall, just in time to see Emma's yellow bug disappear at he end of the road.  
"You must be very proud of them," David says pointing to the direction the yellow bug.  
"I am," I say and I smile at him.  
"Except for the hair, Emma looks just like you," he adds.  
"She looks just like me and acts just like her father," I reply and then I kick myself because I just opened myself up for a second round of questions.  
But David nods and he doesn't ask anything else. He just looks around at the abandoned little farmhouse, at the forest starting at the edge of the farm and the stars showing up one by one in the sky.  
"Where are we exactly?" he asks.  
"We are in a town called Storybrooke," I reply.  
"I don't think I've ever been here before," he comments.  
"You haven't."  
"Can you tell me what my name is?"  
I smile as I turn to look at him. "Your name is David."  
"David," he tries his name out. Then he looks back at the stars.  
"It looks like it might rain," he says even though there aren't any clouds in the sky.  
"Well in that case I really hope our roof doesn't leak because you are always right when you are predicting the weather," I laugh.  
"Am I?"  
"Yes you are." All the years he spent outdoors, watching his flocks when he was a shepherd have given him that ability, so I know better than to doubt him.  
"Good to know," he replies. And then he adds "I can always fix it."  
"What?"  
"The roof, if it leaks. I can fix it."  
"Yes you can, but you are barely walking plus you are dizzy so I'm not letting you get up there until you are all better, no matter how much it leaks" I reply.  
"Fine," he shrugs and I wince.  
"Sorry," I reply quietly. "What I should have said is, thank you for offering, that's very kind of you."  
"Yeah, that's a little better," he smiles and I laugh.  
"I'm sorry, I'm used to bossing Emma and Henry around...-"  
"Does it work?" he asks.  
"Does what work?"  
"Bossing them around."  
"No! Not at all, I'm vastly outnumbered" I say and I laugh.  
He looks at me and smiles."You should call for reinforcements."  
"I did," I say quietly and glance at him through the corner of my eye."Are you cold?"  
"No, but you are," he says pointing to my wet pants and shoes.  
I look down surprised. He is right of course, I am really cold but with all this excitement, I hadn't even noticed.  
I get up and I go in the room to change. I go through my suitcase and I find dry shocks, a white shirt and a pair of jeans then I glance in the old fashioned mirror leaning against the wall. Emma is right. My cheeks are flushed, my lips are bright red, my eyes are sparkling. It's amazing how good I look when I'm happy and in love. I walk back outside, sit next to David and I hand him some crackers.  
"I'm not sure if you are hungry, but we need to get you eating slowly. Just a handful of food at a time," I explain.  
He looks at the crackers then he eats them without commenting.  
"The food here is really different," I offer. "It will take some getting used to."  
"Thank you," he says and I turn to face him. "For all this. For taking care of me..." he says and I can see the question in his eyes. Why are you doing all this? How do we know each other?  
"It's my pleasure," I reply. I give his hand a quick squeeze then I pull my hand back.  
I hear the wind blowing through the trees, the nightingale singing and the sound of a lazy frog croaking somewhere in the forest. This is really happening, I realize. He is alive and awake and next to me.  
After talking to him in my head for the past twenty eight years, just sitting here talking to him in real life, even if it's just about the weather feels so good. Too good. My eyes are welling up with tears again. And I don't try to wipe them, I just close my eyes and raise my head up to the sky, letting the breeze caress my face.  
I think he notices me crying, but he's already noted my aversion to questions so he doesn't ask me anything. He just reaches for my hand and holds it. And I sit there with my eyes closed and smile.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading and responding! Tell me what you think! I'm listening!

 **kaykay25 chapter 2 . 17hYay. Another great chapter :)**

Working on the next one! Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle ride at all times and hold on tight!

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 2 .Loved this. Amazing update. Can't wait to see when she sees Charming for the first time. Can she wake him?**

Yes! Yes she can!

 **Guest chapter 2 After reading your answers to reviews, I get that you are trying something different. I like the way you have Snow riddled with self-doubt. This is how any normal person would react. Two things, the auto correct(will blame it) did the comma/coma mistake in the first line of Snow's internal dialog. Second, if the town is cursed and people repeat their routine how would Ruby know of the coma patient? You would have to make her a MM type going to the hospital to visit patients. I think Ruby in her outfits would help patients get their heart going. Last, I think of how much more relaxed I would be if my younger self knew I would get accepted to grad school etc. I also think that age brings maturity and change to the relationship. I met my partner in college. While we could have enjoyed ourselves I feel the scars we suffered on our journey makes us appreciate the life we have. As my partner often says "the things we experience could have driven us apart or brought us closer."**

Can't blame the autocorrect. That was all me. (I can't believe I did it again. At least this time I didn't put the word "comma" right in the story description, like I did in Storybrooke Elementary. So I am improving, really. There's hope for me yet!) Thank you so much for pointing it out! I really appreciate it.

I have a decent explanation on how Ruby knew about John Doe: she occasionally delivers lunches and dinners to the hospital staff.  
Also, I really wanted it Ruby to be the one to help Snow find Charming because I had Snow say the Grumpy and Ruby were her two "go to" guys in the Enchanted Forest. The two people in her court she trusted the most. So, even though they are cursed in Storybrooke I wanted them to be the two people that help her. Grumpy with emotional support and Ruby with information.  
And I wholeheartedly agree with your partner. The tough times will either brings us closer to our person or break us up. And its so beautiful when they bring us closer.

 **tammy henson chapter 2 . Please please update soon. I love this story so much**

Thank you so much! I am finding myself obsessed with this story. So I'm writing as fast as I can. But then in order for this to turn out I need a few days to reread and let the idea ferment before I'm ready to post...

 **Guest chapter 2 . I hope Snow and Charming adopt a child so they get a chance to truly parent together. It is too sad for Charming otherwise.**

That's a great idea. It could work. Let's wait and see...

 **Guest chapter 2 . This seems really great! I'm loving the build up. Emma is wonderful and I love her relationship with Snow. The age difference between snowing worries me, and I don't know how you'll handle it yet. Since they've miss out on so many things with snow being 28 years older. Like growing old together. I also think that if she realizes that David deserves a second chance, a better chance. To raise a kid to have a family with a wife his age. She would leave leave him be. Because it wouldn't be fair on either of them and she loves him so much that she would break her own heart to let him have his dream. David has always wanted to be a father and even if he loves Emma he didn't raise her. I'm nervously intrigued to see what happens next.**

Thank you! And thank you for sharing your thoughts. I can't answer without giving away spoilers so let's see what happens...


	4. Chapter 4

It's really dark and I can feel David shivering on the bench next to me. I already let him stay out here longer than I initially intended.  
"Alright," I say firmly, "let's get you back to bed."  
He's ready to protest but I give him a look that says there's no room for discussion. I half expect him to get annoyed but instead he just sits there looking at me, a playful smirk on his face.  
I don't know what to make of this, so I find an excuse to walk away. I light some candles in the bedroom, I throw another log in the wooden stove then I go back outside.  
He is already standing up. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and we make our way back in.  
Now that the bed is made the room is almost looking cozy.  
"It's not much," I shrug.  
"It's nice," he replies and I think how this place must be the size of his old farmhouse. The one I never got to see because king George had it burnt to the ground.  
I help him in the bed then I cover him up with the comforter.  
"Aren't you tired?" he asks.  
"I have to keep watch," I explain.  
He watches me as I walk round the house making sure that all the windows and doors are closed and secure.  
"Are we in some sort of danger?" he asks.  
"Its hard to tell," I reply, then I open the wooden case and pull out his sword. The blade of the sword glistens in the candle light.  
He looks at it and for a brief second my heart beats faster because I think that he recognized it.  
"Is that your sword?" he asks.  
"No, it was yours," I reply quietly. "You gave it to me a long time ago..." my voice catches.  
I walk to the window and I look out through the shutters, the sword in my hand trying to compose myself.  
"What kind of danger are we in?" he asks.  
"I don't know."  
"Fine, tell me at least what you are afraid of."  
"There's an Evil Queen, a witch."I explain. "And when she finds out that you are no longer asleep she will probably come after you. This is the land without magic. I'm not sure what kind of powers she has here, so I have to be ready, just in case."  
"There's a witch after me?" he frowns.  
"Sort of, not exactly."  
"After you?"  
"Yes."  
He looks at me, pauses for a second and then he asks "Is she using me to get you?"  
I nod.  
And there's the question again in his eyes, the one I can't answer. But he doesn't ask.  
"Be careful," he says instead.

At some point during the night, I sit on the bed to check on him and that's the last thing I remember for sure. I must have fallen asleep sitting up.  
The rest are just vague recollections, because I feel the bed creak, and strong hands laying me down, placing a pillow under my head. My shoes are being taken off and I'm being covered up with the comforter.  
There's a reason why this is not supposed to be happening but my sleep riddled brain can't remember why. Maybe I protest, maybe I don't, I can't quite remember. But the bed is already warm and I am so exhausted. I close my eyes and sleep, more peacefully than I've slept in years.

I'm sleeping soundly, my face resting on Charming's arm. This must be a dream. It's been years since I had a beautiful dream like this one, I think to myself. The kind of dream I do not want to wake up from. I close my eyes tighter and I reach for his hand. I lace my fingers through his and I raise his hand to my lips. I feel his fingers stroking my lips and my cheek slowly. Its been such a long time since I've felt his touch. I shudder and I let out a small moan. Such a beautiful dream, I think again and I close my eyes tighter. I never want to wake up from this. I turn around and I lean my head on his chest and that's when I open my eyes. For the first three seconds I blink trying to remember exactly where I am, then I realize I am in the abandoned farmhouse in Storybrooke, laying on the bed. I sit up and I steal a glance at David hoping he is still asleep. He is looking back at me, his eyes half closed, a smile tugging on his lips. And though I smile back I feel the color in my cheeks rising. I shake my head realizing that I'm acting like a schoolgirl too embarrassed to talk to her crush. I'm a grown woman, I think to myself. There must be a grown up, dignified way to handle this.  
But the best I can do is mumble "I must have dozed off. I didn't mean to..." I pause mid sentence. What do I say? How do I explain...I might as well be truthful, I decide."It's been a very long time since I've been held by anybody, like this" I end up saying, and my voice catches. I want to leave the room, but I force myself to stay and actually look up at his face.  
He is still smiling. "You fell asleep sitting up a few hours ago," is all the explanation he feels he owes me.  
"How are you feeling?" I try to change the subject.  
"I feel fine," he replies. "I was going to get up but I didn't want to wake you..."  
"You shouldn't try to do too much too soon. You've been in a coma for a long time," I reply.  
He stares blankly at me. We didn't know the term 'being in a coma' back in the Enchanted Forest, did we? "A coma is kind of like being in a sleeping curse," I explain.  
He nods. "So I've been asleep for a long time?" he asks.  
I nod."I've been looking for you," I reply and to my surprise my eyes well up with tears. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner..."  
"How long?" he asks.  
"How long what?" I reply all confused.  
"How long have I been asleep for?"  
"I can't know for sure," I reply."Do you remember anything at all? About who you are..." I ask and I hold my breath.  
He shakes his head. "I don't, but you do, don't you? Don't you want to tell me whats going on?" he asks.  
I look away. Well the curse isn't broken and you didn't age, I want to reply but I stall for time.  
"What do you mean?" I ask.  
"I know your name is not really Mary Margaret," he replies.  
"How do you know that?"  
"I called you that earlier and you didn't budge," he replies.  
"You are right. My name is not Mary Margaret," I consent.  
"And you've been looking for me because...-" he adds.  
"Because I...we... um...several reasons really..." I hesitate.  
"Like what?" he asks.  
"Its hard to explain..."  
"So, talk me through it," he insists.  
"Here is the thing. What if your life was hard and complicated and...you were under a curse. Wouldn't it be more merciful if you didn't remember it?" I ask stumbling for the right words. I need time. I need more time, I'm not ready for this.  
"More merciful for whom?" he asks. And then he adds softly, "what about the people who love me. Wouldn't they want me to know what's happening?"  
"Yes, of course," my voice comes out more raspy and breathless than I intended and my eyes well up.  
A smile tugs at the edge of his lips. As if my reaction just confirmed his suspicions.  
"I'd want to know," he replies "even if my life was hard and complicated." He moves as if he's about to reach for my hand then he stops a mere inch away.  
My finger twitches. A tell. I wonder if he noticed.  
I look away and he hesitates.  
"Let me ask you this," he says and my heart stops because I can sense by his tone of voice that he is about to go all in.  
"What?" I whisper.  
"Ever since I woke up I've been wanting to kiss you and I've holding back. Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"  
My heart is beating fast, my throat closes and all I can do is shake my head no.  
He looks at me, a flash of triumph in his eyes and before I get a chance to blink, his lips are on mine, soft, warm and searching, his finger tracing my jawline. He is testing to see where I'm at, and I am too far gone. I breathe heavily unable to stifle the soft moan that comes out of my mouth. I kiss him back greedily, eagerly, thirsty for more. He pulls back and looks at me.  
"Why did you stop?" I hear my self breathe out against my better judgement.  
"How about you tell me your real name," he says, his voice soft almost a whisper. And all of a sudden I recognize this for what it truly is. This is an interrogation. He let me think I was in charge but really I am the suspect, squirming under the bright lights in the interview room.  
My name is Snow White, I am a trained officer of the law. I am firm and kind, smart and tough, but I'm also head over heels in love with my fairytale husband, a man I haven't been with since a whole other lifetime ago. He is my main weakness and I just gave that away. I might as well have handed him the manual on how to break me. By the end of this session I will have sung like a songbird. There isn't any secrets that I will be able to keep to myself if he keeps this up. And by the he look he gives me I can tell he knows it too. He knows he's already won.  
"We are both from a different realm," I explain breathlessly, "and there I went by a different name."  
He touches my face with his hand then he traces my jawline all the way down to my neck.  
I close my eyes and bite my lip.  
"What's your name?" he asks again.  
"Snow. I'm Snow White,"I whisper breathlessly.  
"Snow," he says softly trying out my name and I almost let out a moan right then and there because my real name sounds so good coming from his lips. I look down trying to avoid his gaze.  
I steal a look at him and his eyes get wider. There's no hiding the intense longing on my face.  
"Nobody's called me that for a very long time," I whisper.  
There's a inescapable warmth in his eyes. "And my real name?" he asks running his fingers through my hair.  
"Charming," I let out before I can stop myself.  
He looks at me questioningly.  
"Your real name is David," I explain "but due to complications outside of our control your official name was...-is prince James. But I never really called you that. I always called you Charming."  
"That does sound complicated," he gives me his half smile.  
"You don't know the half of it," I blurt out and he laughs at my very honest unguarded response.  
"Prince James?" he frowns. "I'm a prince?"  
"You were. But our kingdom is gone."  
"Our kingdom?" he looks at me inquisitively. Figures, that's the only thing he wants to focus on.  
"Two kingdoms to be exact. I joined my kingdom with yours."  
He waits for me to continue.  
I swallow, trying to buy myself time. Maybe I can distract him with all the details. "We overthrew an Evil Queen, my stepmother and a ruthless king, your adopted father. The war lasted about a year. We had fairies, dwarves all sorts of magical beings on our side, plus all the white knights from your kingdom who defected and fought with us, because they'd follow you, rather than King George, your father."  
"We did this? Together?" he asks.  
I nod.  
"And how exactly did we join the kingdoms?" he asks and waits for my response.  
I look away and I don't reply.  
He smiles then he leans over and brushes his lips against mine, softly.  
I grab onto his shirt with with both hands and my whole body shakes. I need more. I need so much more.  
He pries my hands off his shirt firmly and he pushes them down then he holds them back even further, almost all the way behind my back as he breathes a hint of a kiss on my neck.  
I close my eyes."This doesn't really seem fair," I whisper, struggling to keep my voice steady. I'm so close to begging, it's not even funny.  
For a second his expression softens, as if he could be persuaded to let me be, but he shakes his head instead.  
"All is fair in love and war," he quips.  
"And which one is this?" I ask. "Love or war?"  
"Funny, that was going to be my next question," he whispers right in my ear.  
"War, then," I reply.  
I turn my head and let my lips meet his. He closes his eyes and releases my hands and I raise my self on my knees. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and I kiss him again and again, my heart filled with so much love I'm afraid it will burst. I run my fingers through his hair, I lean my forehead against his and, my hands cupping his face,my thumb stroking his cheek. I take a deep breath. I will my self to let go. I need to retreat, now. I climb off the bed and he stretches his hand towards me, breathless and panting. I take a few steps backwards until my back meets the wall. I stand there looking at him, my hands behind my back. I mean to leave the room, I really do, but I can't, I just can't bring myself to walk away from him.  
"Is this some sort of test? Does our relationship hinge upon me remembering?" he asks and the longing in his eyes almost makes my knees falter.  
I have to think about it for a brief second before I respond. Is this what I'm doing? Holding back until he remembers me?  
"No, you don't have to remember. But things have changed. And I want you to have choices...I don't want you to be stuck..."  
"What kind of choices?" he asks.  
And when I don't reply he frowns. "You want me to have choices without giving me any information?"  
I want to know if you'd still be in love with me. Even thought I'm older and you are not, is what I want to say but I don't. I can't say it. I just can't.  
"What do you want to know?" I ask trying not to cry.  
I know this conversation will determine the rest of my life. And I didn't see this coming. I didn't want it to be like this. I wanted him to be awake and aware. I wanted him to remember.  
"How long have I been asleep for?"  
"Twenty eight years," I say except my voice is more of a sob now.  
He nods and pauses for a brief second. "You said you lost your husband twenty eight years ago," he states softly, and I read so much hope in his eyes.  
I nod and I'm crying now.  
He gets up off the bed and slowly walks up to me.  
"Don't!" I whisper as he takes the three steps to bridge the gap between us.  
"Your husband didn't die, did he?"  
I shake my head.  
"What happened?" he asks.  
"There was a curse," I say trying hard to stop crying. "And I escaped with our daughter while he stayed behind fighting, buying me time to get away."  
David is now standing in front of me, using his hand to steady himself against the wall.  
"He got stabbed," I sob touching his side where I know the new scar is. "And that's all I know. I escaped and I raised our daughter alone. I got older. And when I found him, twenty eight years later, he was alive but he hadn't aged at all and he didn't remember me, he didn't even know who he was..." I let my voice trail off.  
He looks at me and I can see his eyes flash with understanding. He understands who he is. He already suspected who I was. Now he understands exactly what's been holding me back.  
I hold my breath.  
"And you wanted him to have a choice?" he asks, his voice barely a whisper.  
I nod."I'm old now," I whisper, "and he shouldn't have to be stuck with me...-" I start saying but he interrupts my explanation with a kiss. And then he wraps his arms around me and he kisses me again and again and I'm so breathless I can feel the rest of my words fading away in the back of my mind. He kisses my tears away and I cling to him as he lifts me up and he carries me back to the bed.  
"I missed you," I whisper.  
He lays me down with heartbreaking gentleness and I hold on tight, returning every kiss and every touch, allowing myself to get lost in his love.  
"I choose you," he whispers in my ear and I let my tears flow freely while clinging onto him even tighter.  
"This whole time I'm laying next to you trying to hold back, trying to control myself and not give into my overwhelming need to grab you and make love to you and you thought I'd feel like I was stuck with you?" he asks and I sob again because he's saying everything that I needed him to say, even though he is not awake yet, not quite aware.  
"I missed you," is the only coherent thing I manage to say.  
"I missed you too," he replies.  
"You don't even remember me..." I argue and he places his finger on my mouth blocking my words.  
"I missed you," he insists and he kisses me again.  
I can feel my body shaking as he closes his eyes and lays his head on my heart. I'm shaking and shivering and crying. He laces his fingers through mine and he holds me tighter, even tighter.  
"So, do I pass?" he asks.  
"What?" I ask because my mind is spinning and I'm unable to think straight right now.  
"Do I pass your 'tell him the truth only if he loves you enough' test?" he asks.  
"I'm sorry," I say and I don't know how to make him understand. "But twenty eight years is a long time and I've been through a lot. I've changed. I expected to find you with your memories intact..."  
He is still the same, I realize. As much a fairytale prince as he was twenty eight years ago. So instead of talking I decide to show him what twenty years of wanting and longing and needing him feels like. I push him down on the bed as I unbutton my top. His eyebrows shoot up and he looks almost surprised. Almost. The he raises up from the bed and his lips crush into mine and the rest is a blur of longing and pain, love and desire. I feel my doubts melting away with every touch, every breath, every smile and every word he whispers in my ear.  
"We should probably wait until you fell better" I manage to say in between kisses.  
"let's not" he smiles as he tugs me in closer.  
I throw my head back and laugh. I can't even remember the last time I've felt this happy.  
I help him unbutton my pants and stop trying to hold anything back.

We are laying in bed together, my back leaning on his chest his arm wrapped around my waist.  
"Didn't your hair use to be longer?" he asks.  
"Much longer," I reply. "All the way down to my waist."  
"You are so beautiful" he whispers and I close my eyes. What I need to say next isn't easy. I take a deep breath.  
"Listen David, I know we just made love, and it was amazing, but I don't want you to feel obligated to be with me. I don't want you to feel, like you owe me anything," I say quietly.  
"Owe you anything? You are my wife!" he replies incredulously. He sits up and looks at me.  
I avoid his gaze."A wife you don't remember. From a previous life in a different realm. I'm not sure if our marriage is even legally binding in this land," I reply.  
"What are you talking about? Did we not make vows and promises to love and cherish each other forever?" he asks.  
"We did. Twice. We got secretly married in the forest before we got married in front of the entire kingdom," I explain.  
"Twice! Then we must have really meant it. I'm sorry I don't remember any of this but give me a chance, it will come back to me. Don't be so quick to throw me out!"  
"Throw you out?" Now its my turn to sit up. "That's not what I'm doing at all. I just want you to have options," I say my voice getting louder.  
"Options? You really need to work on your self preservation skills," he shoots back.  
"Meaning?" I ask all confused.  
"Meaning, you clearly love me, so stop trying so hard to release me from my vows," he frowns.  
"But... but that would be selfish," I say quietly, looking down.  
"Selfish? You spent twenty eight years looking for me... I don't think you understand the meaning of the word. But maybe you should. Selfish might be good a good change for you," he laughs.  
"So you don't mind being married to someone twenty eight years older than you?" I ask quietly and I force myself to meet his gaze.  
"Here you go asking the wrong questions again," he sighs.  
"The wrong questions?" I am really confused now.  
"Let's see, try asking the question differently," he smiles.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Stop worrying about me and ask yourself if you mind being married to someone twenty eight years younger than you," he explains.  
I hesitate.  
"You do mind!" he replies and even though he is still smiling, his eyes are filled with concern.  
"No. Its just that...its you. I remember you. I want to be married to you. I've never been able to see myself with anybody else."  
He breathes out a sigh of relief and for the first time I realize that maybe me being older is intimidating. Maybe I should stop trying to find problems and just enjoy the fact that he loves me, now, today.  
He lays his head on my lap and he says quietly, "so this whole time, you've been living this new life, you've never been...you've never thought about being with somebody else?"  
I look at him and I realize he is holding his breath and I want to laugh and tell him how ridiculous it is that he would be the one jealous of me. But I don't. Instead I answer as truthfully as I can.  
"There were many men around, especially at work, and I...here is the thing. If I ever felt like I could be interested in someone, I'd think of the fact that you'd probably be understanding about it, maybe even forgive me...and it killed me that I had someone as amazing as you loving me and I couldn't be with you. I couldn't find you. So that made me look for you even harder. There hasn't been anybody else. Ever. Just you," I reply and I feel my eyes well up with tears.  
"Understanding!" he says and his voice gets louder "I'd have probably punched him in the face..." he says and I throw my head back and laugh. I laugh so hard tears are streaming down my face.  
He gets up and faces me "What's so funny?" he asks.  
"There aren't enough words to describe how much I missed you," I say and I am still laughing but now I am crying as well.  
"Good" is the only reply I get and then he pushes me down on the bed and he kisses me fast, hard, demanding and I've never felt this happy or this relieved ever, in my entire life.

We lay back on the bed, breathless and panting and he turns to look at me.  
"Tell me, tell me everything" he says.  
I start at the very beginning. How we met, how we fell in love. How we got married and how we planned on escaping Regina's curse. How I crossed to the land without magic with Emma, how I raised her, how Emma got married and had Henry. I tell him everything I can think off. He laughs, he tears up a couple of times and he holds me when I cry.  
"So, Emma" he hesitates for a moment. " You said she's just like me?" he asks.  
"She is. She is smart and funny and bossy and optimistic. She is incredibly kind and generous and selfless. She loves without holding back just like you do. She is amazing really."  
He smiles.  
"And Henry?"  
"Henry is hilarious and so smart. He has a list of things he plans to do with you!"  
"Does he, really?"  
"Yes. You are going to love Henry."  
He leans back and closes his eyes.  
"David? What about children?' I say quietly. "If you choose to stay with me, I can't have any more children..."  
"I already have children," he replies. "I have a daughter and a grandson.'  
"Yes but you didn't watch them grow up..you didn't raise them!"  
He turns and shoots a warning glare at me. "So let me get this straight. You are suggesting that I walk away from a wife that loves me and a daughter I can't wait to meet so that I can have other children?"  
"But..."  
"Snow, if you try to get rid of me one more time I...-"  
"You will what?"  
He smiles. "I'll make you beg for mercy?" he says and the look on his face makes me giggle.  
"I don't think you understand how deterrents work," I reply and he laughs.

We are sitting at the kitchen table munching on all the food that Emma left for us last night. We make quite a sight, he's wrapped in a sheet, like some kind of Roman emperor. I'm wearing his new shirt and not much else, my little hot red nightie completely forgotten in my suitcase.  
I'm showing him how to scroll through my phone so he can see the pictures of the kids, my house and my new life.  
"Do you think they'll come over today?" he asks.  
"Of course. All I have to do is call them," I smile. "Are you ready to meet them?"  
He nods.  
I push my chair closer to his and I dial Emma's number. I put her on speakerphone.  
"Mom hi! What's going on? Is everything alright?"  
"Everything is fine, honey," I reply.  
"Good!" Emma sounds relieved.  
"Emma?"  
"Yes."  
"Are you ready to meet your father?" I ask and my eyes well up with tears.  
The phone is silent for a few seconds. And then I hear Emma's voice cracking "Yes! Really? Yes!" she says almost yelling now.  
David reaches for my hand.  
"Well, come on over!" I say trying to keep my voice steady.  
"We'll be right there," Emma replies then she hangs up the phone.  
"I think maybe we should put some clothes on," I smile and I get up. He doesn't get up. I turn around to face him and that's when I notice his eyes welling up with unshed tears. I reach for him and he lets me pull him in my arms.

* * *

And that was chapter four. I'm Okay, I hope you are too. Thank you so much for reading. Your reviews are reeeeally appreciated. Let me know what you think, or your ideas, your concerns. Hearing form you is my favorite part of this. So, talk to me!

 **Austenphile chapter 2 . 1h Somehow I got behind. It is funny you mentioned the Time Traveller's Wife because I hated it to the point it was frequently a joke between me and my husband that I finished it just because I was stuck somewhere with limited reading material and nothing else to do. Lol.**

 **I really felt for Snow. You can feel her worry. And she should be. Not because of her aging. That is inconsequential. But because she has changed so significantly while David has not. It will be interesting to see this new Snow and will they even be compatible. Is love enough?**

 **Austenphile chapter 3 . Another very heart felt chapter. You write Snow's feelings so well.**

Thank you so much. And here I thought I had this great argument with the Time Traveler's wife and you couldn't stand the book! I laughed so hard when I read your reply. I have another argument,but I needto know first: How do you feel about the Odyssey? Let me know, then I'll elaborate further :) Thanks for sharing!

 **Guest chapter 3 . I get such a kick when you used the "splaining" line. I use it myself. I tagged you being younger but maybe like me you saw reruns. People in comas hear so will you have David reveal that he knows Snow was his wife from her bedside confession? This is just so heartbreaking. Henry and Emma are just as anxious to meet him. I know David's character always wanted a family. He will get one but not the way he dreamed or imagined if Snow remains older. The one couple like Snowing this AU brings to mind, is Macron, France's prime minister. He never had his own kids and one of his wife's daughters is his age. I guess the other couple would be Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. It did not work and I just think the woman would spend so much time trying to stay fit for him. I think it is tough because in the show they seem like such a great love that they should be able to overcome anything.**

I love Lucy and yes I did catch her on the reruns just like you did.  
I 'm dying to respond to one of your questions, but I can't, not without spoiling things. SO, we'll talk after the next (?) chapter.

 **BooksinMyDreams chapter 3 .I love this story it's gorgeous.**

Hi Booksinmy dreams! You are here! Thanks for reading! Thank you, thank you thank you!

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 3 . Aw, the meeting. I bet it is so hard for her. This chapter was so heartbreakingly beautiful!**

Thank you! Thank you sooo much!

 **tammy henson chapter 3 OMG I love this story so much. Please update as soon as possible. I hope the next chapter is where David gets his real memory back**

Thank you. And sorry, that didn't happen. And I appreciate your very timely responses.  
Also, I'm going to ask you as a personal favor not to drag god into this (by saying OMG), not even as a figure of speech. Can you do that for me? Thank you.

baratta jennifer chapter 3 **Great chapters and story**

 **( ᐛ )و**

Jennifer! You are here! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

28 years earlier...  
I'm laying in bed in a place they call an emergency room. I'm nursing Emma, admiring her sweet beautiful face and her tiny fingers now wrapped tightly around my thumb. Everybody is really nice to me but something is off. They are so confused about where I came from. They found me laying on the side of the road, with a newborn in my arms, blood all over my nightgown. They made me lay down on a gurney, placed me on a strange horseless carriage and they brought me here. They asked me what my name was and when I told them I was Snow White they looked at each other in disbelief and then patted me reassuringly on the back. They don't seem to believe me.  
A very polite woman with a clipboard sat beside me, she took a look at my long white nightgown and asked me if I was part of a religious group, if I knew what a cult was, if was a runaway, if my husband had ever been abusive with me, if I had any reason to fear him and so many other questions. I answered no to all of them of course. It made me angry that she would assume such strange things. It made me angry that she'd cast aspersions on Charming without ever meeting him. The thought of her assuming that my husband could hurt me when he spent the last moments we were together fighting to save me, the thought of him laying somewhere injured, alone... I told her as much and she nodded and kept taking notes. I've been entirely truthful but I'm pretty sure nobody believes me. They think I'm loosing my mind and I'm worried that they will take Emma from me if they think that I cannot be trusted. I need to get out of here. I need to leave, I need to blend in the crowd and not have anymore attention drawn to me.  
A nurse walks up to me.  
"What a beautiful baby," she says."Emma, is that her name?" she reads the purple embroidery on Emma's white knitted blanket. "Are you tired?" she asks. "We could put your baby in the nursery for a couple of hours so you can get some rest. Moms do that all the time. Would you let me take her? It's quite common really."  
"I'm not ready to let go of her yet," I reply.  
"That's fine honey," she says."We are swamped that's why you are still here," she says pointing out the strange room where people with all sort of maladies are waiting for the doctor to make his rounds. "We'll move you to the maternity ward soon enough. Just hold on for me alright?"  
"I think I'd like to leave now," I reply.  
"I'm afraid that's not possible yet, sweetheart. The doctor hasn't cleared you yet."  
I nod. The doctor isn't going to clear me, I already know that. But I can escape. I'm really good at escaping. I place Emma who has fallen asleep on my bed. Emma is mine. She is all I have left, I think and I try not to cry. In just a few seconds I lost my husband, my kingdom, my friends and my home and my entire understanding of the world and Emma is all I have left. She looks at me with her beautiful eyes, and she trusts me. She doesn't know that I'm from a different realm, she doesn't understand that I don't belong here and that I have no idea what to do next. All she knows is that I'm her mother and that she trusts me, And for her sake I'm going to figure things out.  
I look around. Behind the curtain next to me the bed is empty. About an hour ago, a man walked in with a small suitcase in his hand his eyes streaming with tears because of the information the doctor gave him. He dropped the suitcase on the ground and covered his face with his hands. He let his eyes wonder towards me, lost, sad desperate eyes, and I could feel his pain, so similar to mine. The kind of pain when your happiness is ripped away and leaves a gaping, pulsing, pain filled hole in your heart. The kind of pain I cannot give into because of this beautiful baby I need to take care of. I felt my eyes well up, and he looked at me and for a brief second we were connected in our grief. Then I watched him walk away sobbing.  
I grab the suitcase from the ground and I looked through it quickly. There's a pair of pants, a white shirt and a green hooded jacket inside, a pair of shoes among a couple of other things. So I pull the curtain around my bed, I take off my nightdress and I put the clothes on. I put on the shoes. My years as a bandit have taught me exactly how to disappear. In a few minutes I look just like a woman from the land without magic. There is something my back pocket. A small wallet. I open it and I look at the contents. A couple of paper bills, a small card with the woman's picture and her name on it. Mary Margaret Blanchard, the card reads. It's not much, but its a start. I place the wallet back in my pocket. I put the hood on, I pick up baby Emma and I slowly make my way out of the emergency room. I walk back to the forest because it is the only place that reminds me of home. I search the bushes looking for Charming's sword. I stashed it here earlier. I cannot find it and I panic for a second. I can't loose his sword, I just can't. And then I see it. I kneel down to pick it up and I can feel hot tears streaming down my cheeks.  
"Charming where are you? Are you alright? Are you hurt? I think I saw the black knights stab you... Are you in pain? Where are you Charming? I'm so alone, I have no one to talk to. People here are so different, they are looking me like I've lost my mind. I miss you Charming, I miss you so much I can barely breathe. I need you desperately. Hold on, please hold on for me. I'm coming for you... I know Rumple said it is going to be twenty eight years before we can break the curse but I am not leaving things to chance. I am going to look for you every single day, and I will not give up until I find you. So hold on, please hold on for me. I'm coming for you..."

* * *

And now...  
I'm sitting on the bench outside the farmhouse, David sitting by my side. I actually put my red dress on, the one Emma likes. My heart is pounding. This is it, I realize. Everything I fought for in the past twenty eight years. My Emma is about to meet her father. I did it. I take a deep breath. My palms are sweaty and I feel lightheaded.  
"Are you alright?" David looks at me.  
"A bit nervous," I admit. "You?"  
"Me too," he replies and places his hand over mine. We are in this together, his touch seems to indicate and I smile. I missed this, I missed us being a team, dealing with things together. I had to do so many things on my own. I hear Emma's yellow bug before I see it. I take a deep breath and I smile.  
"She's here," I say and I'm surprised at how hoarse my voice sounds.  
The door flings open, out comes Henry running towards me and falling in my arms.  
"Hi Grandma," he says then he turns to look at his mother.  
Emma, my sweet, strong girl, my rock, the woman who always leaps into danger without thinking twice about it, walks up to us slowly.  
"Looking good mom," she comments at my red dress then she looks at her father. She gives him a small smile. "Dad!" she says quietly and she hesitates. My Emma hesitates. This isn't like her, I note.  
David looks at her, he smiles and he gets up off the bench. He takes the few steps to bridge the gap between them.  
"Come here," he says quietly, standing right in front of her. Emma motions towards him and he pulls her into his arms. I can see Emma crying, trying to stifle her sobs, her shoulders shaking and David holds her tight, he cups the back of her head with his hand and lets his own tears flow freely.  
"Grandpa" Henry says and he runs and hugs both of them, his arms barely big enough and his joy is so infectious I find myself laughing.  
David reaches for him, a smile on his face.  
"I guess so, kid," he says and I laugh again through my tears.  
Emma pulls back first.  
"How are you feeling?" she asks her hand on his arm.  
"Much better," he replies  
"Well, you woke up, found yourself with a grown up daughter and a grandson and you are not running for the hills yet, so that's a good sign," Emma remarks, "or maybe you can't run yet," she says noticing his slower pace.  
He looks at her and I wonder if he sees the little girl whose hoped against all hope that she had a father, the woman whose husband is probably not coming back to stay. I wonder if he can feel the pain behind her little funny remark.  
"I'm not going anywhere," he says his voice sounding so earnest I can see Emma's eyes welling up with tears again.  
"Good. And if you do anything that hurts my mother," Emma says firmly " I will...-"  
"Emma!" I exclaim loudly unable to contain my surprise. I did not see this coming!  
David isn't taken aback at all, he doesn't even blink. "What? Punch me in the face?" he asks.  
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Emma says quite seriously.  
"Guys!" I try to interrupt but neither of them pay any attention to me.  
"Good," David replies, and now they are grinning at each other brightly, as if they've established boundaries and now they have an understanding, united in their agreement that I need to be protected at all costs. And then David pulls Emma in his arms one more time, and I'm crying once again.  
Henry, who without anyone noticing has gone into the bedroom comes back carrying David's sword in his hand.  
"Is this your sword grandpa? Can you show me how to use it?" he asks.  
Emma looks worried, ready to intervene.  
David eyes get wider and he gently pulls the sword away from the boys hands.  
"I'm not sure," David replies.  
"Oh come on! Grandma says you're only the best sword fighter in the world!"  
David glances at me, questioningly.  
"You are incredibly good," I agree smiling and David nods.  
"In that case, sure, as soon as I feel better. But you have to start with something smaller, not this sword," David explains and he slowly makes his way back in the house in order to put the sword away.  
Emma looks at me smiling. "Not bad for a guy who's only been a grandpa for five minutes," she comments.  
I smile back.  
Emma and I are in the kitchen "So, I did some more shopping," Emma says."I got him some more clothes. "They didn't have any tights or capes at the local store," she smiles, "so I decided he was a flannel kind of guy," she says. She reaches to the shopping bags she brought in the house earlier and pulls out a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans.  
I look at my daughter, who spent her morning trying to imagine what sort of clothes her father wouldn't mind wearing and I smile.  
"Good job, sweetheart," I reply.  
"To be honest mom, after the way you were acting yesterday I didn't think you'd be able to tell him!" she says and she looks at me. "I thought I'd have to wait a week at least... How did you you do it?" Emma asks.  
"He practically tortured it out of me," I smile and this could have easily passed off as a quirky joke if my flushing cheeks hadn't betrayed me.  
"Ewww, Mom!" Emma explains her eyebrows shooting up. "I know that I've joked about his before, but that was...that was then. That was before he was a real tangible person. So from now on, let's just keep the 'eewww' factor to a bare minimum!"  
As if on cue David walks in the room, wraps his arms around my back and kisses my neck. I smile as I turn my head to meet his lips.  
Then he asks "The what factor?"  
"Rats!" Emma says. "You guys are going to keep doing this aren't you?"  
"Doing what?" David asks then his eyes get wider. "Oh, that...sorry...-" he says and he pulls back, a sheepish smile on his face.  
"Grandma and Grandpa sitting in a tree..."Henry chimes in.  
Emma grabs him and pulls him out of the room, "come on Henry let's get grandma's surprise."  
I laugh.  
David looks at me trying to understand.  
"Henry was just singing an old teasing song about people kissing" I explain and he smiles. Then he looks around to make sure that Emma and Henry aren't around and he leans over and kisses me again.  
And I stand there with my eyes closed breathing him in, wondering if a person's heart can explode from too much happiness.  
"Why are you crying?" he asks when I open my eyes.  
"Am I crying?" I ask."I didn't realize. I'm just so happy!" I reply.  
He flashes a bright smile, he kisses my temple really fast then he heads outside because Henry is out there yelling "Grandpa!" at the top of his lungs.  
We all head outside and Emma says, "look what I found at the pawn store, Mom."  
It's my old bow and my quiver.  
"Oh Emma! This used to be mine. How did you even know?" is all I can manage to say.  
"It looked just like you described it. I thought it might be the one...the guy who sold it to me, a Mr Gold, was kind of weird. He asked for my name and then he acted all strange, as if he knew me...Ruby says he practically owns the whole town."  
I frown trying to imagine who he could be.  
"If I'm not going to learn to sword fight today can I at least use the bow and arrow? Both things are on my list" Henry says and he pulls a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.  
"OPERATION GOBLIN SHARK-THINGS TO DO WITH GRANDPA" is the title of what appears to be a very extensive list..  
"Archery is not as easy as it looks kid," Emma replies.  
"Come on," David says. "Let's try. Do you mind?" he asks me.  
"Go ahead," I smile.  
He strings my bow and he waits as Emma places a makeshift target at the edge of the farm.  
David tries the string then he nocks an arrow. He aims carefully and he hits the target.  
Henry claps his hands. "My turn, my turn!" he yells.  
David nocks another arrow and he helps Henry pull the string back. He guides Henry's hand and I watch Henry looking so cute, making faces, trying to keep one eye closed as he aims. His arrow gets released and it hits the edge of the target, mostly due to David's help, but Henry doesn't mind at all.  
"I did it!" Henry yells at the top of his lungs and he runs a small victory lap around us.  
Emma laughs. "You did it kid!' she says.  
"Emma?" David says and he offers her the bow.  
"It's been a while," Emma smiles, because I gave her archery lessons a long time ago.  
Emma aims but her posture is off.  
"Relax your shoulders a bit," David says. Emma looks at him through the corner of her eye, she relaxes her shoulder and releases the arrow.  
She hits the target and I smile. "That's my girl," I say.  
"Okay, I'm not half bad at this but I so prefer my gun," Emma states.  
"Come on grandma!" Henry says. So I pick up my bow and I test the string.  
"No, no,no. This is way too easy for her. Hold up," Emma says. She runs to the target and she picks it up then she places it further back, doubling the original distance. Then she rushes back.  
"This is probably still too easy for her," she comments.  
David raises his eyebrows and looks at me. I decide that there are definite advantages to having a memory challenged husband. Because I get to amaze him with my skills yet again. I smile at him then I lift my bow, pull back the string and aim carefully. I take the breeze into consideration, I breathe out and let go of the arrow. The arrow sings and hits the target perfectly in the middle.  
David looks at me, his eyes open wide then he looks at Emma and nods.  
"Way too easy for her," he agrees.  
"I told you," Emma shrugs.  
"You could've easily hit that," I smile at him.  
"What's a gun?" David asks and Emma smiles.  
"Come on, I'll show you," she says and she pulls David back to the car.  
"No shooting here Emma," I yell after them. "We don't want to attract any kind of attention" I say and Emma shrugs.  
"Fine, I'll just show him what it looks like. I wonder, is there a shooting range nearby? " I hear her say.  
I walk back to the farmhouse and sit on the bench.  
Henry follows me. "This is the best day ever, isn't it?" he says. "I have the best family in the world!" he exclaims and I reach over, pull him closer and kiss him on the forehead  
"Yes," I reply. "Yes we do!"

"Mom?"Emma asks, "Would you mind if...I was thinking that maybe we could spend the night here?"  
I look at her and I smile."Of course," I reply, "I'd love that but it might get a little crowded."  
"Actually we bought a tent!" she replies brightly and I smile trying to ignore the ache in my heart.  
"You did?" I ask. "That is such a great idea," I reply.  
"Oh, good, I was worried you might need more time alone," she says and she smiles again.  
I shake my head. "It's a great idea," I reply.  
"Cool, I'll see if Dad and Henry want to help me set it up," she replies and heads back to her car to bring out the tent.  
Turns out Emma has a lot of grand camping plans. She shows David and Henry how to put together the tent, she explains what sleeping bags are, she asks David to built a fire in the fire pit and places camping chairs around it. She brings out hot dogs and crackers and marshmallows.  
"Anybody hungry?" Emma she asks. She looks very serious as if she's about to make a speech. "Now listen," she says, as we sit around the fire, "we may not have magic in this land but we do have s'mores. And that is just as good. You place this little drop of cloudy goodness on a stick, and you if roast it just right..."  
I can't stifle my giggle.  
"Mom! This is serious. I feel like you are not paying enough attention. There comes a time in a girl's life when she has to explain s'mores to her fairytale father...It's a right of passage really...no laughing!"  
I cover my mouth with my hand, now giggling even harder.  
"It's all bout the chocolate to marshmallow ratio really..." Emma continues her speech in her mock serious tone.  
A tent, marshmallows, an archery competition, I wonder if Emma has a" things to do with dad" list as well, I wonder if she's been compiling that list ever since she was a little girl and I feel my heart ache for her.  
Emma yells "careful, it's on fire" to a very startled David who almost drops both stick and marshmallow into the flames. Emma laughs.  
"Try again Dad," she says and hands him another marshmallow.  
David turns and looks at Emma. Her face is illuminated by the flames, her eyes are glowing, her cheeks are flushed from the heat of the flames, her golden hair is all messy and she looks so breathtakingly beautiful. And I recognize the look in his eyes. Its the same look my father gave me when I dressed up for my first royal ball. The look he gave me when I rode my horse for the first time. Eyes full of love, wonder and pride.  
And there's a sob stuck in my throat, a sob aching to come out, so I quietly excuse myself. I feel David's eyes following me as I make my way back to the house. I walk to the bathroom, shut the door behind me and I lean against it.  
He missed so much. He missed so much and its like he was born to do this, he was born to be Emma's father. I stare at my reflection in the mirror and I wish I was thirty again. I wish I was able to give him another child or two. I wish I could turn back time so Emma had years of tea parties and camping trips and memories with her father. And in that moment I decide that no matter what happens David and Emma will never be separated ever again. Not if I have anything to do with it.  
There's a soft knock on the door.  
He found me, is the first thought that pops into my head.  
"Mom? Is everything alright?" It's not David but Emma. My sweet thoughtful girl, she knows something is off and she's come to check up on me.  
"I'll be out in a minute" I reply as cheerfully as I can manage and I try to convince myself that technically I am not lying to her.

I sit on the edge of the tub. And even though I do not want to be the sort of woman that storms out of rooms and expects her husband to follow her and anticipate her every emotional need, I can't help but think that David barely knows me, but Charming would have known that something was off. Charming would have come after me. Charming would have been the one knocking at the door, insisting that I should let him in.  
When I make it back outside, Emma, Henry and David are done eating S'mores and are now sitting inside the tent.  
I sit on the bench and watch them.  
Henry is giggling making funny faces with his flashlight, Emma is complaining "Could you stop flashing light in my eyes!"  
"So I'm calling operation goblin shark a success!" Henry states. "I'm calling it,"  
"I think I might know a story about a goblin," David says.  
And if it was anybody else saying this, Henry would be quick to correct him and explain that goblin shark is an actual shark that has nothing to do with goblins. But David is his fairytale prince grandpa and he gets special consideration. Not only does Henry not correct him but he hands him the flashlight and says "go ahead grandpa. What's your goblin story?"  
David looks out of the tent and notices me sitting on the bench.  
He flashes the light in my direction.  
"Aren't you coming in?" he asks.  
"There's no room!" I reply smiling.  
"There's plenty of room," he argues and he moves to the side, almost toppling the tent over. I giggle as I duck my head to get inside. He reaches for my hand. Henry doesn't see it but Emma notices and she beams at him.  
"Once upon a time, in the edges of a dark dark forest there was a very angry goblin..."David starts his story and I can see Henry completely enthralled, his eyes getting bigger. I smile and I feel an actual shiver down my spine.  
Emma yawns. "This is so great," she mumbles.  
By the end of the story Emma has fallen asleep leaning on David's shoulder.  
Henry tells some knock knock jokes and David laughs at every single one of them, even the ones that are too modern for him to understand without Henry explaining the punchline.  
And then David and Henry yawn at the same time.  
"My turn,"I say."Once upon a time in the Enchanted Forest there was a dwarf who found a dragon egg..." My story is a classical tale told to all enchanted forest children since the beginning of time. And when I'm half way through the story, right about the time the dwarf is about to be knighted I see that both David and Henry are actually asleep. I watch them sleep and I take some pictures with my phone. There's hardly any room for me to lay in the tent, so I walk back to the house.  
I lay down on the bed and I smile. I could get used to this, I think. I could get used to being this happy.  
Around the time the day breaks a very sleepy David makes his way into the bedroom, he climbs on the bed, pulls me in closer and falls back asleep. And we are all still sleeping when the sound of a police siren wakes us up. I rush outside David trailing behind me. Emma steps out of the tent, a very sleepy Henry just sticks his head out of the tent entry, watching carefully. A police car is parked right behind Emma's yellow bug, the emergency lights blinking.  
"What is going on?" Emma asks as she comes to stand beside me.  
"Nothing good," I reply. And when I see my stepmother stepping out of the vehicle along with the sheriff I shake my head.  
"David, "I say quietly,"this is Regina, the Evil Queen, my stepmother and the Huntsman, except he doesn't remember who he is."  
He nods.  
"We should hide Dad," Emma whispers.  
"Too late," I reply. "Just follow my lead!"  
Emma motions to David to stand behind her and offers me a slight nod.  
"What exactly is going on here?" Regina asks walking up to us.  
"Care to be more specific?" I ask and I cross my arms across my chest.  
"Absolutely. What are you doing here with him?" she asks again and she points right at David.  
"How is that any of your business?" I ask defiantly.  
"When a man goes missing from my hospital, in my town, when we spent endless man hours organizing search parties looking for him, it is very much my business," Regina replies. "My name is Regina Mills," she replies "and I'm the Mayor of Storybrooke."  
"Right,"I reply."Did you know that there's a warrant out for your arrest mayor Mills?" I ask. "Look it up," I challenge the Sheriff.  
Sheriff Graham motions as if to go back to the police car to check.  
"Stay where you are Sheriff," Regina replies and the Sheriff freezes on his spot. "A warrant for what exactly?" Regina asks raising her eyebrow at me.  
"Unpaid parking violation, or being an Evil witch that casts dark curses, I can't quite remember..."  
"A parking ticket?"Regina laughs. "Oh, no, I 'm terrified! However will I beat those charges..." she replies. And then she points at David one more time. "Why is this man with you?"  
"My husband," I reply "just woke up from a coma. He is recuperating."  
"Your husband!" Regina laughs. "Dear Snow, you are old enough to be his mother! No one in their right mind will believe that he is your husband. And you have no paperwork to back it up. I don't have to tell you how this looks. I'm trying to decide what to charge you with...I'm thinking of charging you with kidnapping as well as human trafficking!"  
"What?" I ask. After casting a dark curse I thought that there wasn't much she could do to shock me, yet she manages to outdo herself with those outlandish charges."On what grounds?"  
"You picked up a confused person you found on the side of the road, you brought him here in this abandoned farmhouse and you turned him into your...well I won't say what he is since there are children present. You are a sick woman in desperate need of psychiatric assistance. If you let us take you in, we will let you have an insanity plea. I'm sure Dr Archibald Hopper will sign off on it. And this poor man, now that he is awake, he needs to get back to his wife!"  
Emma looks at me her eyes wide open.  
I glance at David. He is standing there frowning looking frustrated. He doesn't have enough information to be of assistance. I can't let her do that to him. I cant let her do this to us. I can't let her tear my family apart again.  
"Not so fast, Regina. Maybe I can't prove that he is my husband, paperwork being scarce in the Enchanted Forest and all, but I can easily prove that he is Emma's father. A DNA test will prove that conclusively. Of course I will insist that it doesn't get done in your town,"I reply."What else you got?"  
She frowns. She's spent all this time getting her way in this town. She is not used to people standing up to her.  
"This girl? This girl is your daughter?"  
"This woman," Emma smiles. "Emma Casssidy, Boston PD. Nice to meet you Evil step grandmother!" she says and Regina almost chokes.  
"What did you just call me?" she demands.  
"You heard me," Emma smiles.  
"As far as David's wife is concerned, please, have her come over." I say and I hope, I desperately hope that its another of Regina's tricks, not another family he doesn't remember from his missing years.  
"Fine," Regina smiles. Sheriff Graham," she says in the most sugary sweet of voice. "Would you kindly ask Catherine, David's wife and Dr Whale, David's physician to join us?"  
Graham goes to the back of the police car, opens the door and out comes this beautiful blond woman and a guy about David's age.  
I don't recognize her right away. She is beautiful I think and I did say that wanted him to have options. As if reading my mind David slips his hand into mine. And then Catherine comes closer and I finally recognize her.

"Abigail!" I say and my heart feels so relieved. "Abigail!" I turn to Regina. "You brought Abigail over with your curse? She is not even from our kingdom! How many innocent people did you bring over?" I ask.  
Regina completely ignores my outburst.  
"Mrs Nolan," she says "do you recognize your husband in this group of people?"  
Not a fair question really since other than the sheriff and the doctor, David is the only man in the group, but I decide to let it slide.  
"Of course!" she says. "That's my David!"  
"You heard her, Sheriff. She made positive identification."  
"Catherine," I say and I smile. "if that's your real name, how long have you and David been together?"  
"A really long time," she says vaguely.  
Emma shifts uncomfortably and looks at me.  
As I've already noticed from Granny, Ruby and Grumpy, the curse gives them a false sense of self and some background memories, but I suspect that its nothing concrete. It's logical to assume that Abigail's memories are fuzzy at best.  
"Then you won't mind answering my questions. You've been married to David for a long time, so you have been intimate with him, correct?"  
I can feel David next to me tense up.  
"Yes of course," she says and smiles at him.  
"Then you won't mind telling us how he got the scar he has on his thigh?"  
David turns and looks at me all confused.  
Dr Whale looks at me. He understands what I'm doing.  
"The scar on his thigh, yes, he was in the military. I think he got that on his first tour to Iraq."  
"Oh, he was in Iraq! How interesting," I say "what about the scar on his back?"  
"Same place," she says.  
Regina glares at me.  
"Mrs Nolan, I'm not sure who put you up to this, but John Doe, or David or whatever his real name is, doesn't have a scar on his thigh or his back," Dr Whale replies and I smile."Regina what is this? Where did you find this woman?" he asks.  
"But he is my husband!" she says and she looks and she covers her face with her hands and she starts sobbing.  
"Catherine," I say and I walk up to her, "Your husband's name is Frederick, and he loves you more than anything. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. Its really confusing, I know," I add as softly as I can and my words seem to soothe her. Then I turn to Dr Whale. "Would you please make sure she makes it safely back home? And maybe give her a mild sedative?" I ask and he nods.  
Dr Whale escorts Abigail back to the police car.  
"Fix this!" I tell Regina. "Fix it and let her get back to her husband. I don't understand how many people you have to torture to get to me. Let this one go."  
"I can't!" Regina yells. "I can't. I can't undo any of this! The curse needs to be broken!"  
"How do we break it?" Emma asks.  
"I don't know!" Regina yells again and all of a sudden I wonder if she is done with this silly town, sick of this prison she built for this confused group of people. Sick of being evil and yet trapped in this part of villain she cast herself as. And I don't care. I really can't bring myself to care.  
"Then get out and let me be!" I practically scream at her. I look around and I notice my bow leaning against the farmhouse wall. I reach for it, I quickly nock an arrow and I point right at Regina. "Get out!" I yell so loudly I surprise even myself.  
Everybody looks at me, their eyes wide, David jumping at my sudden outburst.  
The Sheriff draws his gun, but he hesitates.  
"Mom!" Emma yells jumping front of me her arms half raised, "what are you doing! Put your bow down!"  
"Just get out," I say once again, I drop my bow on the ground, and I start to walk away.  
"Just so you know this isn't your property, you are trespassing," Regina yells after me. "So you better get out. And don't even think about skipping town. There are spells and wards surrounding this town. If he crosses the town border your Charming will die!" she says.  
"Of course," I sigh, "I wouldn't expect anything less..."

I walk back to the house and sit at the kitchen table. I bury my head in my palms and I sigh. One day of happiness. This is all I get. One perfect day and then Regina marches in and she blows it all up to bits. I am so tired of fighting her. I am so tired of fighting. I just don't have it in me anymore. I can't, I just can't do this. And I have absolutely no clue how to break the curse.  
Emma storms in behind me, followed by everybody else.  
"Are they gone?" I ask without looking up.  
"Yes," David replies.  
"Mom! What were you thinking!" Emma yells. "You can't point your arrow at the Mayor in front of the Sheriff! You are a retired cop, you know better! Do you have a death wish?"  
"She didn't do anything wrong!" David tries to say but Emma cuts him off.  
"Yes she did. Maybe by Enchanted forest standards she did fine, but by land without magic standards she almost did what we call suicide by cop!"  
David turns to look at me, surprised, almost shocked.  
I avoid his stare.  
"This whole town is cursed. Hundreds of confused people walking around because I couldn't keep a secret!" I yell back. "I've lived my whole life knowing that everyone around me, everyone who ever loved me was doomed to a life of suffering because I couldn't keep a secret!"  
"You were a child!" Emma replies.  
"And yet here we are!" I say pointing to Regina's direction. "Here we are," I repeat more quietly this time.  
"I can't talk to you when you are like this!" she says. "I'm going to find us another hiding place. Or maybe just a regular place to rent. If she knows we are here there's no point in hiding out anymore, is there?" And when I don't reply she throws her arms up in the air and looks at Henry. "Kid are you with me?" she asks. Henry nods. "Dad?" she says and when David points to my direction, she hesitates she looks at him and nods. She is designating him to Snow duty. "I'll call you when I find something." she says.  
"Bye Emma," he replies quietly.  
David is standing alone in the room. I feel bad for him. He's been awake for barely three days and he's had to deal with so much already. And yet here he is. He probably has no idea what to say to me, yet he is sticking around. I've got to give him credit for trying.  
"Are you alright?" he asks quietly.  
I shake my head.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks and I shake my head again.  
His shoulders slope. He really doesn't have enough memories to know quite how to handle this. How to handle me.  
"Come here!" I say quietly.  
He seems relieved that I'm talking to him.  
I get up and I reach for his hand.  
"Are you alright to walk for a bit?" I ask.  
"I can walk," he replies.  
There he is, my Charming. Always present, always stepping up. He wakes up with no memories, finds himself married to a woman old enough to be his mother, a father to a grown daughter,a grandfather, hunted by an evil witch, and yet here he is willing to follow me, no questions asked...  
I grab a blanket and we walk out of the farmhouse. I stop about a hundred feet into the forest. I spread out the blanket, I sit down and motion for him to join me.  
He sits down next to me.  
"The first time we made love, we were in the forest," I explain quietly.  
He looks at me and then he crosses his arms and tilts his head to the right.  
"What exactly are you up to?" he asks.  
"I'm not up to anything."  
"Don't lie," he replies.  
"Don't let me," I whisper and I lean in to kiss him. He kisses me back. I bite his lip then we lay down together, slowly, shedding our clothes and I think of our first time, how I cried and I laughed, how I was both shy and bold at the same time. How he told me I was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. How I promised to give him as many a sons and daughters as he wanted. How he swore he'd make me the happiest woman in the world. How neither of us knew exactly what we were doing but we had so much passion it more than made up for our inexperience. I was so young, so filled with hope. There was no doubt in my mind that we would defeat Regina. No doubt our love could beat any challenge she threw our way. He is still the same I realize. The same idealistic prince I fell in love with. But I'm not the same. I've grown, I've changed. I've been beaten up by life enough times to know better. I can't have everything. So now I'm going to put Emma and Henry and David first.  
I want our last time together to be exactly like our first.  
I lay in his arms my eyes streaming with tears as I cling to him, my head resting on his chest.  
"Tell me this isn't goodbye," he says and he raises his head to look at my face.  
"This isn't goodbye," I repeat.  
"Don't lie," he says again.  
"Don't let me," I smile.  
"Snow! I'm serious."  
"Don't ask me for things that I can't give you," I reply quietly.  
"What exactly are you planning on doing?" he asks.  
"I plan on meeting Regina, on her terms and ending all this."  
"She is going to kill you!" he states matter of factly.  
"Maybe. Kill me or lock me up and throw away the key, either way... I... I just can't, I can't fight anymore. I've been fighting my whole life. All I ever get is fleeting moments of happiness and then she swoops in and destroys everything again and again. At least with me out of the picture she will leave you guys be."  
"Didn't you hear her? She doesn't know how to break the curse. She can't stop any of this!" he says a bit louder.  
"Well, that makes two of us."  
"I'm coming with you."  
"I need to do this alone," I reply firmly.  
"Snow, I thought we were in this together!"  
"So did I, twenty eight years ago. The truth is I've been alone forever. I've been alone much longer than I've been with you. I need to deal with this and I need you to be safe," I try to explain.  
"What about Emma? And Henry?"he asks softly.  
"That is exactly why I need to do this by myself. I need you to be safe. Emma is a grown woman. And she won't be alone, now she'll have you."  
"You are her mother, she doesn't even know me."  
"She will, she is just like you. It's your turn now...I got twenty eight years with her, now you get the rest."  
"Snow, this is all wrong, you can't do this," he tries again.  
"I have to."  
"Please..." he starts to say.  
"It's time. It's time for this to be over."  
He shakes his head. He knows he doesn't know enough to convince me otherwise. All he has is the information I gave him. My point of view. " Then you should have let me be," he says, his voice broken and frustrated. He turns his head to the other side."You should have let me stay cursed, sleeping."  
And I feel my heart break listening to the sad frustration in his voice.  
"You don't mean that," I say.  
He doesn't reply.  
"David?" I say. "David, come on!"  
I want him to understand, I want him to agree. I don't want to part like this.  
He doesn't move, so sit up and shift around to face him.  
His eyes are streaming with tears. I didn't see this coming.  
"Please don't cry David" I whisper my heart aching and burning inside me.  
"I do mean it. It hurt a lot less being cursed and asleep, than knowing that you are leaving," he replies.  
I wrap my arms around him.  
"It's not like that," I try to explain, "I'm not leaving you. I'm just tired. Tired of running away from my fate. When I was a little girl, I made a foolish mistake. And Regina has punished that whole realm trying to get to me. And because of the way you love me, you keep rescuing me, but what if that's the problem? What if I just need to surrender to my fate?"  
"So what, are you just going to go there and let her kill you?"  
"I'm tired of fighting David. I should have surrendered years ago. The whole realm would have been safer if I was out of the picture..."  
He shakes his head and he looks really frustrated because he doesn't know how to deal with this. He doesn't remember.  
"You'll be fine," I try to say. "You barely know me. You don't actually remember me. You'll start over, you are so young! You'll have your whole life ahead of you. You'll meet somebody else and you can have children, children you will actually get to raise. Isn't that what you've always wanted? You might not remember this but its exactly what you wanted..."  
He looks at me both angry and really hurt. I can't remember ever seeing him this hurt by my words before. Then he takes a deep shallow breath and I know he is about to go all in.  
"You said. 'Where are you Charming? I'm so alone, I have no one to talk to. People here are so different, they are looking me like I've lost my mind _._ I miss you so much I can barely breathe. I need you desperately.' You said 'hold on for me. I'm coming for you...' So I stayed. I stayed because you needed me to. And now that you found me, you think that because I'm younger and I don't have all my memories yet, you think I'm not him. I'm not Charming. So you have no problem sleeping with me and walking away. You think my love for you isn't real. Not strong enough. You stopped believing in us Snow. You stopped believing in me," he says and my eyes open wide.  
"You raised our daughter strong and tough, and you taught her to believe in love, you convinced her that I was out there and I was real and that's amazing how you were able to do that. But you, yourself don't believe in me. You are treating me like a memory, a shadow of the real guy. That's why you almost didn't tell me I was your husband."  
He waits for me to say something and when I don't he shakes his head.  
"I was wrong," he says quietly. "You are quite selfish after all. But I'm here, Snow, and I'm real and I love you. And the same way you were unable to move on once you got here, unable to love somebody else, that is the same fate you are condemning me to, " he says. "And I'm sorry I'm not enough for you. I'm sorry I don't remember yet. But I believe in us. I believe that we are in this together. And I believe in you. And if this is what you need to do, if you need to face Regina alone, if you need to walk away from me, I won't stop you!" he says and he slowly puts on his pants and his shirt.  
"I do love you David!" I try to argue. My head is spinning, my hands are shaking and I'm unable to think straight.  
"You think you do. But love doesn't give up! Notice how you said I love you David, not I love you Charming? But what do I know? I'm not really him. I'm just here so you can have a distraction, someone to sleep with on your way to a dramatic exit" he says and kisses my cheek and he slowly makes his way out of the forest.

I stand there, on our blanket, my hands shaking. I am so frustrated and confused. He is wrong. Its as simple as that, he is wrong. He is young and passionate, he doesn't understand. Of course he is wrong. He doesn't even know me. How can he think I'm selfish when I spent my whole life searching for him? Turning my self to Regina isn't selfish, is it? Is he right? Am I treating him like a novelty, a young husband, a shadow of the real thing? I sit for a long time, and I weigh things in my mind. My dreams, my plans, my thoughts.  
I've been doing this alone for such a long time. Maybe I'm just like Regina. I'm used to getting my way and making decisions unopposed. Emma tells me I'm wrong occasionally but she pretty much always goes along with my plans. David is here and I'm not at all including him in my decisions. I'm not even letting him have a say. I'm still doing whatever I want without any consideration of what he needs. I'm not treating him as a partner, an equal. I actually had the nerve to tell him that he's young and he'll meet somebody else. I completely dismissed what he feels for me...

 _"You said. "Where are you Charming? I'm so alone, I have no one to talk to. People here are so different, they are looking me like I've lost my mind. I miss you Charming, I miss you so much I can barely breathe. I need you desperately. " You said " hold on, please hold on for me. I'm coming for you...' So I stayed. I stayed because you needed me to._

I did say every single one of those words to him, on my first night in the land without magic. I whispered them into the void. I did. But how does he even know that? There is no way for him to know that...

I get up and I rush to put my clothes on. I button my shirt all wrong, I fumble with my pants, I try to roll up the blanket then I just let it drop it on the ground. And I run to the farmhouse, I run as fast as I can, my eyes streaming with tears, my heart beating wildly.  
"David!" I scream. 'David! David!" I storm in the kitchen, run through the bedroom, all the way to the bathroom. He is not here. Why isn't he here? I rush back outside. I don't see him anywhere. Where could he be? "David!" I scream at the top of my lungs then I drop on my knees sobbing. Where did he go? Why isn't he here? "David!"  
How did I let this happen? What kept me back so long? How could I just let him walk away? How did I not ask him to forgive me right way? How could I just assume that he'd still be here waiting for me?  
I hear someone step behind me and I turn around.  
It's David! And I burst into tears unable to even begin to contain the immense relief that washes over me.  
"Snow! What's happening? Are you alright?" he asks and he rushes and kneels next to me. I grab onto him him. Terrified that he could slip away again.  
"What's the matter? Are you hurt?" he asks.  
"Tell me," I beg. "Please tell me how you know what I said all those years ago. Please!"  
"I was hoping that would get your attention," he smiles.  
"Please!" I beg again, "tell me how you knew I said that!"  
"Alright..Listen I don't remember who I am, other than what you've told me. The only things I've managed to recall so far in the three days that I've been awake is that your hair used to be longer and that funny goblin story I told Henry last night. But, when I was asleep, in a sleeping curse, or a coma whatever you want to call it I could hear your voice in the dark. And what you said to me, during that time, that I remember."  
"What? How? How is that possible?"  
I am so enthralled by what he is saying that I do not hear the white van that stops in the driveway. I do not pay attention to the sound of boots approaching the house carefully. And when I turn around smiling thinking that maybe Emma came back, I freeze. Because I see two tall thugs I do not recognize, probably ex pirates or some kind of villains walking up to us their guns already drawn, and I gasp.  
I raise my hands up and I turn to David looking at him horrified. He doesn't look too worried. He doesn't quite know what a gun is. Emma was going to show him exactly how it works and I told her not to. I do not offer any kind of resistance when the thug grabs me but David steps over and punches him in the face and that's the first time in my life that I feel such intense uncontrollable terror.  
"Don't shoot him, don't shoot him, he doesn't know what a gun is!" I scream hysterically. I realize that I could accomplish a lot more if I remained calm but I can't, my voice comes out high pitched, shrill, terrified. "David I'm begging you, stop resisting, please," I say and that gets David to lower his fist and raise his hands. The guy he just punched gets up and pistol whips him so hard that David actually drops on the ground, blood trickling from the side of his mouth.  
I scream "No!" at the top of my lungs, then I say "Please please don't hurt him, he doesn't know what a gun is," and that's when the other thug slaps me.  
"Stop screaming! Stop screaming right now or I'll shoot him in the head.." he says and I bite my lips and close my mouth tight.  
"How does he not know what a gun is?" the first thug wonders. "What is he some kind of Amish pacifist or something?"  
"Just gag her," the other guy says "I can't stand her voice. We are to keep her alive, he's disposable, if he tries anything again just shoot him."  
I look at David who is struggling to get up and I can't keep my tears from flowing. I was about to apologize for hurting him, I was about to admit I was wrong, I was about to explain that what he felt mattered, mattered to me more than anything else. And now, if things go wrong I'll never get a chance to explain. He could die thinking he was't enough for me. He could die thinking I considered him a shadow of the real thing, a novelty, a man I could sleep with and walk away from. I'm a trained officer of the law, I've survived countless attacks and encounters with criminals, I always stay calm and collected. When I walk into danger I always have several back up plans and I never doubt that the law will prevail. Yet here today my mind is spinning, my heart is filled with terror and I stare breathless as my husband slowly manages to get off the ground a gun pointed right at his head. He seems calm, calmer than I am anyway, he wipes the blood from his lips on his sleeve and looks at me. The first thug comes back with a rope in his hand and I know I only have seconds to say one thing, and I have to make it count.  
So I look at David and I cry out "Charming!" and that is all I get to say before my mouth is gagged.  
And I can see David's eyes grow wider, his face overcome with emotion. So many things I want to say, so many things I want to take back. I keep my eyes on David as the man ties my hands behind my back. They tie up David hands next then they march us up to the back of the van and once we are inside they tie up our legs. The van is dark as I roll around around to face David. He is looking at me with so much love in his eyes.  
I want to ask if he's alright but I can't. The concern must be written all over my face because he replies "I'm fine, now nod if you are alright too," and I nod.  
Then he looks at me and points to his legs with his head. We are really lucky that Emma decided that her father was a flannel guy who wears hiking boots, because as I follow his eyes I realize what he is pointing at. Sometime during the scuffle he stuffed my cellphone in his hiking boot. My eyes grow big and I nod excitedly. The thugs must not consider us much of a threat because they are sitting upfront not paying any attention to us. David struggles and brings his legs towards me. I scoot carefully backwards and after several tries I manage to reach the phone. I grab it and I blindly dial Emma's number. Then I struggle to push it back towards David.  
"Hello? Mom? Hello?" I hear Emma's voice.  
David looks at me and then he starts talking softly, his face as close to the phone as he an get it.  
"I know now is not the time to say any of this because we are tied up and in the back of this white vehicle," he says "and those two scary guys can probably hear what we are saying and they both have guns and we are heading east, but I need you to know this," he says and I know he is talking to me now, no longer trying to explain the situation to Emma. "Because I might not get to say this later," he says."What I was saying earlier...I was alone in the dark, I was in pain, I had no memories, no sense of who I was. I had a feeling I had just accomplished something important and I knew I was about to die, and I had made my peace with that. I could feel myself slipping away, fading and I was ready to let go when I heard a woman's voice in the darkness. It was barely a whisper and she said ' _Where are you Charming? I'm so alone, I have no one to talk to. People here are so different, they are looking me like I've lost my mind. I miss you Charming, I miss you so much I can barely breathe. I need you desperately. Please hold on for me. I'm coming for you...'_ So I did. I held on because I knew we were connected somehow and she had no one else to talk to."  
I gasp and my eyes are streaming with tears.  
You stayed alive for me? I want to ask but the rope around my mouth is preventing me from speaking so I just nod and blink several times.  
David smiles "I held on and I waited to see if I would hear the voice again. I heard you all the time. You said things like 'Emma skinned her knee, Emma drew a picture, I wonder if I'm a good enough mother, Emma got teased at school, Emma eloped, Emma is pregnant, Henry is so sweet, Henry is talking..." he stops for a second then he continues..."I was in love with that voice. I held on because I thought that maybe I will get to walk in the light one day, maybe I will wake up and she will call me Charming...I lived for the moment that you'd call me Charming..." he says, he looks at me and his voice catches.  
I have no words. I feel my eyes streaming with warm tears, my heart overflowing with love, I cannot, I have no words to express what I'm feeling.  
"And then I felt you next to me, touching me, and I was trying to let you know I was there but I couldn't open my eyes. And you walked away. I woke up terrified that I'd missed my chance to be with you, so I got off the bed and I had no idea who or where I was but I knew I had to find you, I had to tell you I've been listening, tell you that I loved you, that you were not alone," he says and I lean my forehead on his, my tears mingling with his, and it kills me that I cannot open my mouth and tell him how much this means to me. How much he means to me.  
"You found me in the river and you brought me to the farmhouse, and I was so excited to finally see Emma and Henry. I was trying to get you to tell me who I was,trying to find out what our connection was but you kept giving me clever evasive answers. You weren't telling me much. I was hoping you were mine, but you wouldn't tell me... when I told you yesterday that I missed you and you didn't believe me, I wasn't lying..." he says and he finally stops.  
And I look at him and I want to say that I love him desperately, that I want to fight for him and with him, I do not want to surrender to Regina any more. I want to say that he was right about me loosing faith. That he was right about me being selfish, thinking that it was Okay to sleep with him and walk away, that it was wrong how I was making decisions not including him in any of my plans. And I want to call him Charming and tell him he is enough. That even if he never gets his memories back, who he is right now is my Charming and he is more than enough. So I lean on his forehead and I sob and he places his cheek on mine and says "Please, please don't cry."  
And I lay still trying to stop. He kisses my tears away and I just lay there looking at him and I try to smile.  
"I love you and I want you to tell me that you will fight for us," he whispers.  
I nod quickly.  
"And you will not surrender to Regina..."  
I nod again quickly.  
"Good," he breathes a sigh of relief."I think maybe you being a captive audience really works in my favor," he says quietly stifling a smile.  
I lean my forehead on his and then the van opens up. I manage to cover the cellphone with my shoulder.  
The men grab David and pull him out of the van and then they slam the doors, and just like that I am left alone on the dark.

* * *

This was chapter 5. Thank you for reading, thank you for your very interesting responses. Please keep them coming, I love hearing your thoughts, objections ideas etc. Feel free to yell at me. I'm listening!

 **Guest chapter 4 Oh wow. It felt like I was holding my breath reading this chapter. The tension were high and you surely delivered! I see where both of them are coming from. It's a hard situation but snowing is snowing and they could never love anyone else as much as they love each other. It was the perfect balance between sensuality and angst. You did a good job portraying it, will we get to see in Davids point of view? Or is it set in Snows? Thank you for the chapter.**

Thank you! Other than what David explains when they talk I do not plan on switching points of view...I'm in the Snow zone...

 **Guest chapter 4 .Interesting discussion between Snow and David. I have to disagree with him a bit. Being a parent is raising a child. He is not one truly nor will he ever be. And I'm this case, Emma is happily married and raising Henry. At best, David will just be her mother's husband and not a true father. I was hoping they would at least discuss him getting a chance at having a real family. But apparently not. Too sad.**

You make valid points, even though I don't necessarily 100% agree with you.  
Here is what I'm thinking: this wasn't an in depth calm levelheaded discussion on where they see themselves, how they want their life to unfold, what their life goals are, what family options they have etc etc. This was two desperate " I missed you, please don't leave me,""but I'm trying to put your needs first," angsty conversations in between reunion sex.  
Do you understand what I'm saying?  
Now, think of their state of mind. Sure, Snow's raised Emma alone and she fully understands how important this is. But if/when he gets his memories back, David is a newlywed prince who just said goodbye to his wife and baby. He isn't going anywhere anytime soon...

Also-in chapter 1 I explained that Emma is not happily married. She and Neal are separated, Neal gets Henry on the weekends.

 **Guest chapter 4 There will be plenty of time for David to have more kids in 20 years after Snow dies. He will still be relatively ginn**

You are right-and yet if he were thinking in those terms he'd no longer be my favorite character...

 **BooksinMyDreams** **chapter 4 Thank you. That was a roller coaster of emotions. You are such a wonderful writer.**

Thank you! :)

 **baratta jennifer chapter 4 . Your welcome**

Continuing my emoji tradition: ( ◞･౪･)

 **Guest chapter 4 I don't think you could have written this any better. You handle their interactions beautifully. You mention the Odyssey. I loved that play. I think it is a love story. Ulysses is always trying to get back to his wife and son. He discourages Telemakos, his son, from seeking glory through war and joins an undesirable war to protect him. In the end, he is able to have it all, wife son and kingdom. His wife is intelligent and capable in the manner she holds off the suitors. All the others lose so much. Menelaus is murdered by his wife and her lover. Granted she had good reason, he sacrificed their daughter, Efigenia. The wife is later killed by her children. It is such a mess but Ulysses gets his happy ending.**

Thank you! An Odyssey fan! Here is my (very ancient) argument:  
There are several versions of the Odyssey since the ancient grecians and romans were really into fanfiction-I'm not kidding- but I'm referring to the popular one written by Homer. The version where Ulysses leaves his wife and newborn son to join the war against Troy. On his way home he manages to shipwreck over and over. He spends seven years stuck on Calypso's island, Calypso being a gorgeous immortal goddess, who is head over heels in love with him, who goes as far as to offer him immortality(!) in order to keep him with her. He is stuck on her island against his will, he becomes her lover (the ancients being vague on the issue of consent), and every evening he walks to the beach, looks at the water towards in the direction of his home and cries, because he wants to go back to his wife, who is now 20 yrs older, too old to have children, and his now adult son, the son he didn't get to raise.

Once the goddess consents to let him go he shipwrecks to the next island where he gets befriended by Nausica, a gorgeous young princess, who is also in love with him. There is an official marriage proposal which he turns down because he wants to go back to his wife, who is now 20 yrs older and probably too old to have children, and his now adult son, the son he didn't get to raise.

Do you see what I'm saying? Mortal older wife and adult son vs. gorgeous immortal goddess, possibility of children and immortality  
Mortal older wife and adult son vs. gorgeous young princess, possibility of children,wealthy kingdom  
he chooses his wife and son every time...

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 4 Okay? I am anything but! That chapter was absolutely amazing. Anything I could have pictured would pale in comparison to that. I am bawling. That was so beautiful and deep. The cliffhanger at the end really sucked though. I've been dying for two things from this story. One, Snow telling Charming she was his wife and what their time together after that would be like and two, Emma meeting Charming as her dad. Needless to say, I cannot wait for the next chapter. I'm sure I'll be in tears again. So worth it though!**

Hmmm if you didn't like the last cliffhanger I shudder to think what you will say about this one. Sorry! Thank you for liking my stories, I really appreciate your reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

I am alone in the dark van. I am scared and shaking and trying to get out of the ropes binding my hands, trying to act like a police officer not a woman whose long lost husband just got pistol whipped and kidnapped at gunpoint. I hear noises from the outside, signs of struggle and I can't figure out what might be happening. My hands are almost untied when I hear a gun go off. I freeze and I let out a sob.  
Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive, I keep repeating inside my head.  
If he can hear me when he is in a coma, maybe he can hear me now, wherever it is they are taking him. If he is still alive.  
Please be alive, please be alive please, I beg as I frantically try to untie my hands. Someone is standing at the back door of the van. The door is about to open.  
My hands finally free I reach in the dark looking for something, anything I can use as a weapon. There is no time to untie my legs or take my gag off. I find a baseball bat so I grab it and I crawl towards the door. I try to steady my nerves and I get ready to swing. I need to make this one count. The door opens and I swing my bat as hard as I can.  
"Hey," says the person who opened the door as he takes a quick step backwards to avoid my bat.  
"Snow, it's me!" David speaks again. He's alive, he's alive. He is actually alive! I drop the bat and completely fall apart. I'm sobbing and I have a hard time breathing because of the rope tied around my mouth. My hands are free now but I'm not thinking straight. It doesn't even occur to me to take my gag off. I am crying and sobbing and I cannot think straight.  
"It's alright, I'm alright!" he tries again then he climbs in the back of the van and I feel his hands taking the rope off my mouth, untying my legs, pulling me closer.  
I throw myself in his arms, holding him tight.  
"I thought they shot you," I manage in between sobs. "I... I...I can't..."  
"Breathe," he says quietly. "Just breathe..."  
"You saved me! How?" I ask.  
"I pretended to trip and knocked them out when they tried to help me up..." he shrugs. "Why are you so surprised? You said I was a good fighter..."  
"You..." I say and I kiss his lips and his eyes and his cheeks. "You... you are absolutely right. I should know better than to doubt you."  
We step outside of the van. My eyes open wide as I see the two thugs laying on the ground.  
"You broke his nose," I note "and he is not waking up anytime soon," I observe the bruised bleeding face of the second guy."We should go, there could be more of them coming," I add and then I go through their pockets. I find the van keys. I also grab their wallets and their guns. I glance at the building they were about to take us in. It looks like an empty warehouse. No other men in sight.  
"Let's go," I say. "We are taking their van."  
"Are we?" he says and he smiles. "Nice!"  
I grab my cell phone, I dial Emma's number and then I jump in the driver's seat. David sits on the passengers side.  
"Mom!" she yells. "What's happening?"  
"We are fine," I reply.  
"I'm at the police station, the Sheriff and I were about to come find you," she says.  
"No need, we are on our way to you. There were two assailants. They are knocked out. I am driving their van, I got their driver's licenses and their weapons. They are pretty banged up so you might want to send an ambulance, I'm sending you their location right now," I reply.  
"Good job Mom!" Emma says.  
I shake my head."No, I can't take any credit. That was all your father's doing," I say and I glance at David.  
"Really? Good job Dad then" Emma says and I see David smiling.  
"Alright, we shouldn't be too far. We'll see you in a bit," I say and Emma hangs up.  
"Where are we going?" David asks.  
"We are going to the police station. We are going to file a report, tell them what happened to us. That will make it harder for them to get to us," I reply.  
"Why bother? I though the huntsman was the Evil Queen's pawn" David says.  
"You are right," I reply, "which is why it is a good thing you saved us and we didn't have to rely on him...but Emma is already at the police station, we still have to file a report. It will still make it harder for whoever is behind this to try again"  
"Alright," he agrees. "And then what?"  
"Then, you and I need to talk because there's about a thousand things I wanted to tell you when we got interrupted," I reply and my voice catches.  
He nods. "Such as?" he asks.  
I don't want to do this now but this isn't about me, he deserves to know. He deserves to know before somebody interrupts us yet again.  
"Such as," I take a deep breath, "you were right about what you said to me. I was being selfish, and I did loose faith in us, and I was all wrong and I am so so sorry," I reply. "And I hope you can forgive me...-" I add and my voice comes out all choked up because I'm crying again.  
"Of course I forgive you," he says his hand squeezing my arm and I feel like this was too easy.  
"Just like that? Because I was fully prepared to do some more groveling...-" I reply and I realize that there's no surprise in his willingness to forgive me right away. This has always been the way he loved me, wholeheartedly and without reservation, without holding anything back.  
"You are my wife," he replies as if this mere fact explains it all and my eyes well up again.  
"I am your wife," I agree and I look at him and smile blinking my tears away.  
We are at downtown Storybrooke so I drive around until I find the police station. We head inside and we find a very worried Emma who runs and throws herself first in my arms and then David's. We sit at the Sheriff's desk, I give him a full report, I hand him the weapons and the driver's licences of our attackers and once I pass on everything I know, he is willing to let us go.  
"Alright, who is hungry?" Emma asks.

We sit at Granny's and we eat and laugh and retell our story.  
"And then the guy said 'what is he some kind of Amish...-" David recalls "and I don't know what that means...-"and Emma bursts out laughing. She laughs so hard there are tears streaming out of her eyes.  
David goes on with the story and Emma smiles.  
"You did amazing," she says in the end. "And Mom, this isn't like you, what's going on?"  
"I... apparently I..." I have to think about this for a minute. "Apparently when there are guns pointed at my husband I don't..." my eyes well up and I can't even finish my sentence.  
David reaches for me and I squeeze his hand tightly.  
"It's Okay mom," Emma says quietly. "I bet its nice being the one getting rescued for a change," she says. I nod and again, I can't even utter a word. I slide my chair closer to David's and I wrap my arm around his neck and I kiss him on the cheek. He just leans closer to me and smiles.  
"Well, this is a happy reunion," Ruby says standing in front of us wearing a very revealing little black dress. "What's the occasion?"  
"Oh, nothing," I reply smiling, "we are just figuring out what it means to be a family again..."  
Ruby smiles, glances towards Granny and I can see the longing in her eyes.  
"Won't you pull up a chair and join us," I offer.  
"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to impose," she replies.  
"But you wouldn't be imposing," I argue. "Because a long time ago, in another life your name was Red, you and I were practically family."  
Ruby looks at me wistfully, and she almost believes me. Almost. Then she looks around at the diner, her version of reality and she shrugs and chews harder on her gum "anything else I can get you guys?"  
Once Ruby is gone Emma looks at me. "So," she asks "is this your new strategy Mom? Going around telling people who they really are?"  
"Well they are not being subtle, what, with the kidnapping and all, so I don't see why we should," I reply. "So yes, I think that should be our strategy, but I... I should have ran it by you first." I reply. "I'm sorry. What do you think?" I ask and I look at Emma and David.  
David gives me his bright David smile. "I like it, but I don't know if I can be of any help. I don't recognize anybody."  
"Emma?" I ask.  
"You know I'm in. So here's what I'm thinking. We spend the night at Granny's, then in the morning preferably after breakfast we go grab all your things from the farmhouse and we look at a couple of places we could stay more permanently, I mean," she explains.  
"Sounds good," David replies and I nod.  
"Now I just have to carry the sleepy one all the way to the room," Emma says pointing at Henry who has been leaning on the diner table sleeping for a while.  
"No, I got him," David steps in as I'm about to state firmly that he is not to carry anybody anywhere, he's not well enough, he just woke up.  
And then I look at him smiling and my heart swells with love and I just bite my lip and nod.  
He glances at me eyebrows raised, a playful smirk on his face and I wonder if he is really that good at reading me and whether he is reading my face or my mind.  
"I'll pay the bill," I mumble and I head to the counter.  
"Well, " Emma says following me "would you look at that. When you are in love you are so much more...-"  
"Reasonable?" I ask.  
"Less bossy, I was going to say less bossy, but sure, we'll go with reasonable," Emma replies giving me a playful shove.  
I wrap my arm around her shoulders. "I guess I am."  
"All kidding aside Mom, its so nice to see you happy," she says.  
"But Emma, I've always been happy!" I try to protest.  
"You've been hopeful, but now that I see you actually happy I realize that you've been putting a very brave front for a very long time..." she replies.  
"I've always been happy when I was with you," I try to argue, but she kisses my cheek.  
Then I think of what just transpired and I sigh.  
"What's wrong?"  
"I wish I wasn't so useless in a fight. I don't get it. Of course he is my soft spot but I had no trouble fighting by his side back in the Enchanted forest...so what is happening now?" I reply.  
"Oh come on mom. Don't you see what's happening?"  
"I really don't," I reply.  
"You are terrified of loosing him again. That's all. I've seen you fight and there are a lot of people locked up behind bars who would testify that you are anything but useless in a fight..."  
I glance at David who is picking up Henry waiting for us to join him. I smile at him.  
"Do you really think so?"  
"Of course. I know because I'm scared of loosing him too." She glances at David and she turns back to me. "I thought you were exaggerating when you were describing him... but I listened to everything he said to you when you called me while you were abducted... he is just like you said he was. And he really loves you Mom!"  
"He does. You are just like him you know..." I reply and I get misty eyed again.  
Emma smiles.

We are in Granny's bed and breakfast in Emma's room and I watch David lower Henry to the bed. He hesitates for a split second then he lays a kiss on the boy's forehead.  
"Sleep tight," he says and I look away trying not to cry again.  
Emma gives me a kiss on the cheek."Night mom, so glad you are safe," she says quietly then she walks over to David, she wraps her arms around his neck, she pulls him towards her and kisses his cheek.  
"Goodnight Dad," she says and she smiles. "And thank you. For saving Mom, for carrying Henry...for everything," she says quietly and David doesn't reply, he just kisses her forehead. And I lift my hands in the air as I let my tears flow freely and I resign to the fact that I am going to be a crying mess from now on.  
David follows me to our room. I unlock and walk inside. There's a full moon tonight and it's shinning through our window so I do not turn on the light.  
"There's a couple of things I need to say," I begin quietly.  
He looks almost worried. "What is it?" he asks.  
"I'm so sorry about today," I say again.  
"Didn't you apologize already?" he interrupts, but I walk closer to him and I wrap my arms around him.  
"I'm sorry I said that you didn't know me and that you barely remember me. That's not even true. I was so wrong..I need you to know that even if you don't get a single memory back, you...just being you... you are more than I could ever hope for..and I will never stop fighting for us..."I say and I choke up.  
When he reaches for me I shake my head.  
"Close your eyes," I whisper.  
"What? Why?" he asks his voice cracked, but he closes his eyes anyway.  
I push him slowly down on the bed.  
I lay next to him and my heart is so overwhelmed I have to wait a minute until I can find my voice so I can whisper "I love you Charming!"  
His body goes taut and he breathes faster.  
I lean closer and I stroke his face and kiss the back of his ear. "I love you Charming!" I whisper again and he gasps.  
I lace my fingers through his and I whisper "I love you Charming!" and he turns to lean his forehead on my cheek and I feel his cheeks getting damp.  
I open my shirt and I whisper "I love you Charming," and he waits as I lay on top of him.  
I lean to kiss him and I whisper "I love you Charming," and he pulls me down even closer.  
I brush my lips on his neck and I whisper"I love you Charming" and we cling to each other tightly as we make love in the dark.

I wake up because there's a soft knock on my door.  
I find my clothes on the floor and I get dressed really fast then I head to the door.  
"Wait," David pulls his pants on then he rushes next to me.  
I look at him and he nods, so I open the door cautiously.  
It's Sheriff Graham.  
"Sorry to disturb you this early," he says."but I wanted to tell you that we apprehended two suspects. They were exactly where you said they would be. The were discharged from the hospital early in the morning and they are now in jail. Neither of them is talking."  
"Not a big surprise there," I reply.  
"No," he smiles.  
"What about the warehouse? Did you find out who is using it?"  
"The warehouse belongs to Mr Gold," the Sheriff explains.  
"Mr Gold... isn't he the guy who owns the pawnshop?"  
"That's right. He claims that it's been vacant for a while. No one has rented it from him in years."  
"And did you ask him who his last tenant was?"  
"That I didn't ask," Sheriff Graham scratches his head. "I probably should have asked that..."  
"Probably..." I smile. "Thank you for letting us know..."  
"Will you update Emma as well?" he asks and there's something in his eyes when he says Emma's name, something I can't quite decipher.  
"I will definitely inform Emma. And Sheriff Graham?" I say then I glance at David quickly.  
"Yes?"  
"I need to thank you..."  
"No need to thank me Ma'am I'm just doing my job..."  
"No, I need to thank you for the times you didn't do your job..."  
"What? I'm afraid I do not follow..."  
I place my hand on his arm. "Years ago, in a different life, back when you were the Huntsman you were given a job. You were asked to kill a young woman guilty of all sorts of crimes. Except the woman was innocent. And you didn't do your job. You let the woman go...you paid a steep price for this, and for that I am eternally grateful. And later you were a black knight in the Evil Queen's palace when a prince who was about to be executed made an escape attempt. It was your job to stop him, but the prince was innocent and you didn't. And for that I am also grateful..."  
The Sheriff takes a step backwards and he looks at me, his eyes wide, hopeful. "Are you sure?" he asks. "I spared the lives of two innocent people? Because I don't remember any of this..."  
"I am sure. It's okay if you don't remember. I remember. And if you ever need to know more about who you used to be, I'm here to tell you everything I know. I owe you so much!"  
The Sheriff looks at me, then he turns around and walks away, his pace unsteady, his eyes full of questions.  
David watches him leave. "There has to be a way to break the curse and let everybody get their memories back..."  
"Yes, I wish I knew how."  
Emma opens her door and looks at us.  
"What is happening? Are we having some sort of meeting in the hallway?" she asks.  
"Let's go get breakfast," I reply.

We are sitting at Granny's finishing breakfast and Emma wants us to discuss renting a place in Storybrooke.  
"So let me make sure I understand, you are talking about moving here, permanently?" I ask.  
"Well, yes, don't we have to? I mean, we found you Dad, but we are nowheres near breaking the curse..."  
"Right, which means I'm staying." I reply."But you...Can you stay?"  
"I want to." Emma states emphatically and Henry nods. "I'm not leaving you here!"  
"Oh, honey I want you to stay too!" I reply. "But I am retired. Other than you and Henry I have no reason to return in Boston, nothing is holding me back but you... You have a job and Henry has school and his father expects him to get back."  
Emma frowns. Then she looks at me and smiles."Well I have that problem half solved. I was talking to the Sheriff yesterday when we were planning on rescuing you and he's been thinking of hiring a deputy. I could get that job, until the curse is solved, then once you are free Dad, we could go wherever we like."  
"That's great except for that other part we are ignoring..." I say and David looks at me questioningly.  
I look at Emma because I feel that she should be explaining this part.  
Emma glances at Henry who now seems enthralled in his video game not paying any attention to us and then she explains:"She means Neal, Henry's father. We are not exactly getting along right now..."  
"What's wrong?" David asks.  
"Look, Dad, I met Neal right out of high school. Actually while in High school, so I graduated early and I...And we eloped without telling anyone not even Mom. Mom knew I got a job in New York and I was staying with a roommate... but we actually got married. And I married him because we were in love and because he believed me. I never told anyone about my fairytale past because they thought I was making up stories or that I was seriously delusional, but Neal believed me. I told him about Snow White, about prince Charming, about the Evil Queen, about Rumpelstiltskin and he just took my word for it. It was such a relief to meet someone who loved me enough to believe me," Emma says and her voice trails off. "But then I was pregnant with Henry,and I had to come clean with Mom and tell her the truth, and we decided to move back to Boston because I wanted Mom's help with Henry...and that's when things got complicated. When Neal met Mom and realized that we were actively searching for you and other people from the Enchanted forest, it was like things got too real for him. And he started pulling back..." Emma says and I can see her eyes well up with tears.  
David frowns."Did you ever ask him?" he says.  
"Why he is pulling back? Yes tons of times but...-"  
David is shaking his head.  
"Ask him what?" Emma looks confused.  
"Who he was in the Enchanted Forest?" David explains and I look at him surprised and all of a sudden I see exactly what he is saying and it all makes sense.  
"What?" Emma asks and I watch her face as she finally understands what he means."I don't understand..." Emma says but I think that she does understand she just doesn't want to."Are you saying that he might have an Enchanted Forest connection? Other than me?"  
"Perhaps you are not the first child that crossed over to safety," David explains.  
Emma turns to look at me."How did we not think of this sooner?" she asks.  
"Maybe we needed a fresh pair of eyes," I shrug.  
"Or maybe I didn't want to see it," Emma replies and she gets up off the table."Excuse me," she says and she walks out of Granny's.  
David looks at me worried. "Should I not have said anything?" he asks.  
"No. Are you kidding? If you are right, you just solved a puzzle that Emma has been trying to figure out for a long time."  
"What do I do now? She seems so upset..." he mumbles and he looks so concerned.  
"Now you give her some space to sort this out, and then you go talk to her " I reply."If she wants to talk."  
David nods but he looks really worried.  
"I think you are right. It all makes sense now...and I can't believe we didn't see this earlier..." I say quietly.  
Henry looks up from his game."Where did my Mom go?" he asks.  
"She just stepped out, she'll be right back,"I reply but my voice sounds uncertain.  
Henry shrugs and he gets back to his game.  
Emma walks back to the table and sits down.  
"Now that that's taken care off, let's find a new place to live, shall we?"  
David and I both stare at her a bit stunned.  
"What do you mean taken care of?" I ask.  
Emma glares back. "I called him. I asked him if he was ever a part of the Enchanted Forest and he didn't say no. And I asked him who he was and he wouldn't reply. So I told him about Storybrooke, how I plan on moving here and if he wants to be with me he can come explain himself here."  
"Did he reply?" I ask very quietly.  
"I don't know, I couldn't hear because of all the screaming," she says.  
"Screaming?" David asks.  
Rookie mistake, I think and I try to suppress my smile.  
"I might have screamed that last part and hang up the phone," Emma replies."So I found two different places we could move to, both have pros and cons obviously. There's a loft here in town a few blocks over. It's nice, furnished, Mom you are going to love how it looks. They do not want a lease, they are willing to rent to us month to month. The only problem is, that it's kind of an open floor plan."  
"Meaning?"David asks.  
"Your bedroom doesn't have actual walls," Emma explains and she makes a face. David's eyes grow big as he steals a glance at me.  
"Now the other place is a small farm at the edge of town. Really cute house, a large barn, nice big open space..."  
"Does that one have walls?" David asks and I smile.  
"A lot of walls. And doors and locks, and two bathrooms. The problem is they want us to sign a year lease, and I'm not sure if we want to commit to a year. What if we break the curse tomorrow?"  
"Right," I reply.  
"Which location is more defensible?" David asks and Emma frowns.  
"I didn't think of that. If there was another attempt you guys I'm not sure where you would be safer. The loft is right around the police station and we could easily put a camera on the stairway so we know who is coming in and out of the building. If we were on the farm, it'd be like yesterday, if we were attacked we'd be on our own," Emma replies. "Here Dad, let me show you what a camera is," Emma pulls out her phone and shows David.  
"And what kind of resources do we have?" David asks.  
"Well, I have my pension, that's money I get every month because I worked for twenty years as a police officer, and I have some savings and I also haven't touched my settlement, so we are good. We have money."  
"Settlement?" David asks.  
"A few years ago, I got injured in the line of duty... um that means doing my job...-"  
David reaches and touches my arm where he knows there is a scar hiding underneath my shirt.  
He looks at me questioningly and I nod.  
"Yes, well I got injured because my partner didn't follow procedure, so they gave me a large sum of money for that. It's called a settlement."  
"Your partner?" David frowns.  
"When you work as a police officer you are assigned a partner. I got Paul and though he was good at his job he wasn't as good at protecting me as I was protecting him," I reply and he nods.  
"As much as Paul liked you, you'd think he'd be willing to take a few bullets for you," Emma comments.  
I shake my head. "Well, I know what it's like when somebody has you back," I reply looking at David, "and let me tell you Paul wasn't cutting it."  
I notice David looking back at me warmly and I smile.  
Then Emma asks abruptly "Do you think it counts as a lie Mom? The fact that he didn't tell me?"  
David looks at her confused.  
I choose my words very carefully. " Are we back on the topic of Neal? Look Neal could have lied but he chose not to."  
"No, Mom we are not going to give him credit for not lying!" Emma replies all frustrated. "Besides, not trusting me enough to tell me the truth isn't that much better than lying is it?" Emma asks looking at David.  
David shakes his head.  
"Some times people have good reasons to keep their secrets. Now I'm not saying that what he did was alright, it wasn't, but maybe you should hear him out."  
"How can I hear him out when he is not talking! He chose to leave me in the dark. He told me nothing. I feel so betrayed!" Emma asks staring at her plate.  
I reach over and I place my arm on her shoulders.  
"Those are all things you should be telling him, Emma. Tell him how you feel, tell him how much he hurt you and give him a chance to explain, or fix this. It's possible that he didn't tell you things to protect you..."  
Emma frowns. "I don't think so Mom. Wouldn't warning me be better than staying silent about things?"  
"Look, there is no use in me speculating. Talk to him!" I reply.  
"How about you Dad?" Emma asks. "Would you ever lie to mom? To protect her?"  
David looks at Emma and then he looks at me. "I have no memories, so I don't know...Have I ever lied to you?" he asks me and he seems frustrated that he is in the dark.  
"I can't think of a time that you lied to me, but I did lie to protect you once and it almost destroyed me."  
"Okay Mom," Emma replies. "Confession time. What did you lie to Dad about? Do I already know that story?"  
"Probably." I turn to David. "I was forced by king George to tell you that I didn't love you. If I didn't the king would kill you. So I had to do what the king asked and I broke your heart...and it almost destroyed me. I couldn't live with myself, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't move on...I took a magic potion to forget you and in forgetting you I became a different sort of person...it was awful."  
"Well, that's kind of sweet and dramatic and not at all helpful," Emma sighs.  
"Sorry honey. My helpful advice is to talk to him, now that you actually dicovered he has a fairytale past he might be more forthcoming" I repeat. "You could go back to Boston to ask him all these questions!"  
"No, Mom, I'm done running after him. It's his turn to run after me," Emma states and I can't help but feel so proud of her in this moment. "So, what do you want to do first? Go get your stuff from the farmhouse or go checkout the loft?"  
"How about we stay at Granny's a little bit longer before we have to choose between walls and no walls? I say we go pick up our stuff from the farmhouse right after I pay a visit to Mr Gold."  
"Mr Gold? Why?" Emma wants to know.  
"The warehouse where we were taken last night, it belongs to Mr Gold," I explain.  
David says "I'm coming with you."  
"I should be the one to go," Emma replies. "This is practically police business. Besides someone needs to stay with Henry."  
David nods and I look at him and wonder if it bothers him that his lack of memories and his lack of real world experience is designating him to the sidelines. Because in the past it had always been me and him against the world. And I don't like that. I do not want to leave him behind.  
"How about we all go," I reply and David glances at me and he seems really grateful.

Emma and David walk in the pawn store first and I follow them my arm wrapped around Henry's shoulders. I let my eyes wonder around the amazing assortment of different objects around the store. Right off the bat I recognize Grumpy's ax, Granny's crossbow, Ella's blue dress, and I gasp when I see Emma's mobile hanging proudly in the middle of the store.  
"Mom, what is it?" Emma asks.  
"This mobile hung above your crib," I say quietly and David turns to looks at it, his eyes wide open, and then he touches one of the glass unicorns. I stare at him holding the unicorn in his hand and my heart aches because of all that could have been, all we should have been if we had been allowed to raise Emma in our castle in the Enchanted Forest. He places his hand on my arm and I try to remind myself that we are on serious business here so I need not to fall apart yet again.  
I hear footsteps approaching and as curious as I am to see who this Mr Gold could be, nothing prepares me for what I'm about to see. The back curtain opens and Rumpelstiltskin comes out, a Rumpelstiltskin that looks more human than he ever did before.  
"Rumpelstiltskin?" I exclaim loudly. I glance around and I grab the first weapon that seems available, a metal fireplace poker probably from Granny's cottage.  
David glances at me and he grabs a knife from the nearest display ready to back me up and I can't even describe how much I love him in that moment.  
"Mom!" Emma looks at me shocked. What are you doing? her eyes seem to ask me but thankfully she doesn't say it out loud.  
"Snow White, her Charming husband and their daughter Emma" Rumpelstiltskin says calmly as if he is fully in control of the situation.  
"Leave my daughter out of this," I say walking closer to him, extending my poker.  
"Ts ts ts, is that a way to greet an old friend?"  
"We were never friends," I reply "now tell me, were you the one that kidnapped us?"  
"Kidnapping is such a strong word, isn't it?"  
I glare at him. "Why, what would you call it?"  
"Providing an essential family bonding experience, just in case you were letting such trivial things as your age difference get in you way..."  
I shake my head and laugh.  
"Right, I should be thanking you then!" I reply. "I'd almost believe you except for the fact that you told your thugs that Charming was disposable! Who were they anyway? I didn't recognize them."  
"You've met them before," he replies."You turned them into bugs and they came to me for assistance."  
"They were trolls?" David asks and I realize that he is either starting to remember or paying very close attention to every single word I say. Probably both.  
"Quite right. You are lucky they have no memories because trolls can hold a grudge for centuries."  
"Good to know." I reply. "So clearly you kidnapped us because you wanted some sort of leverage. Do you want to tell us what you hoped to gain out of this, or should my daughter arrest you for our kidnapping?"  
"Your daughter can arrest me?"  
"She is the new deputy and you just confessed," I smile. Emma is not a deputy yet, but Rumpelstiltskin doesn't need to know that.  
"I see. You can try to arrest me dearie, but I also brought up trolls, so we could really say that my confession was a misguided attempt to be humorous. Because we all know trolls don't exist. Not officially anyway."  
"And yet somehow I think Regina would enjoy it if the Sheriff had a reason to arrest you. She wouldn't mind keeping you locked up for a while. Wouldn't you agree?" I ask David.  
"Definitely" he replies playing along.  
"Fine, you win," Rumpelstiltskin replies. "I'll tell you. All I want is your assistance in breaking the curse."  
"Why?" I asks.  
"No, no, no. I told you what you wanted to know. Now tell me, are you going to assist me?"  
"No," I reply. "I don't think so. We are going."  
"So I take it you like Storybrooke? You do not mind that your Charming husband is to remain chained to this town unable to leave forever? Without any memories? Or do you like him better that way? Is he easier to control?" he says and I almost stop to give an angry reply, but I take a deep breath and keep going.  
"You know, dear prince, you are really good at pretending that you remember, really good. Too bad you do not remember anything. Too bad you have no idea who you are. When you tire of hanging on your wife's every word for your information, you'll come to me," he says and I wonder if his offer might be too good for David to pass up.

"Shouldn't we talk about this, Mom?" Emma asks once we are outside of Gold's pawnshop. "Could he really help us break the curse?"  
"Maybe. But I don't think we can afford to trust him. His help always comes at a steep price," I reply. "So, are we going to get our stuff from the farmhouse?"  
"Sure. Do you want to drive or should I?" Emma asks.  
"Actually," I say and I turn to David, "it's your turn. Do you want to learn how to drive?"

David's drives pretty well for a new driver, but that doesn't really surprise me at all. We get to the abandoned farmhouse and I'm shocked to see all our things still there, untouched. Emma and Henry start to pack up the tent while I go in the bedroom to get the bedding. I'm halfway done folding the comforter when David walks in.  
He walks up to me and he helps me fold it then he helps with the sheets and stacks up the pillows. This wordless cooperation feels so much like old times I can feel my heart soaring with joy and contentment.  
"I'm actually going to miss this place..."I smile.  
David smiles and doesn't reply. Then he looks cautiously at me like he's debating whether to bring something up.  
"What's wrong?" I ask.  
"Is he right? Are you stuck in Storybrooke because of me?"  
"Maybe. And I couldn't be happier..."  
"Maybe?"  
"Both Regina and Rumpelstiltskin said you can't cross the town line. So it's probably true or maybe they are bluffing because they need to keep me here for some reason. Either way I'm not risking your life to find out."  
"If you need to go back to Boston and be with Emma...-"  
"Emma is a grown woman. She can handle herself. And I'm staying here because love means being together. And David, I'd rather be stuck here with you rather then free and without you anywhere else in the world!" I sate firmly and he pulls me in closer. I kiss him twice.  
"But does that mean you've fallen in their trap?" he asks.  
I shrug. "Thank you for backing me up in there," I say quietly and he smiles.  
"Of course."  
"No, you don't understand, I've walked into all sort of different types of danger with people who were trained to protect me and they failed me so badly. But you...you are always so good at protecting me," I mumble and I hide my face in his chest.  
"You were quite amazing in there, you didn't let him bait you..."  
"And you, you sounded like...-" I say and then I realize what I'm about to blurt out and I stop myself.  
"Like Charming?" he asks, and I can't, I can't let him think that.  
"Like you remembered everything," I reply. "Is it really frustrating, missing your memories?"  
"A little."  
"Do you want me to make the deal with Rumpelstiltskin so you can get your memories back?" I ask.  
"I thought dealing with him was incredibly dangerous."  
"It is, but I'd do it for you..."  
David shakes his head. "No, I'll be fine."  
I nod. "If you change your mind..."  
"If you take me and my memories out of the equation, is there a good reason to make a deal with him? Is breaking the curse worth it?"  
"You are the equation. I walked out not because he tried to manipulated us but because he told his trolls that you were expandable. I might have been willing to hear him out if he hadn't done that. But that is where I draw the line. And he needs to know that. He needs to know beyond the shadow of any doubt that you, Emma and Henry are to be protected at all costs if he wants any sort of cooperation on my part...our part I mean."  
David nods."Alright. So you draw your lines and I back you up. We have the beginning of a plan, more or less."  
I laugh and I shake my head. "That'a very optimistic assessment. It's more of a fragment of a plan..."  
"Alright, its not much but we'll get there..." he concedes.  
"I missed you," I mumble and I'm ready to just grab him and forget there are other people around in the world, just him and me.  
David shakes his head. "Not now, Henry and Emma are out there..."  
"Right," I reply and I smile. "Maybe I should take a cold shower."  
"I'll help you. And I won't walk out half way either," he smiles.  
I shake my head. "I did that didn't I?"  
"Yes you did. And you looked so cute when you got all flustered," he adds and I hand him the pile of sheets and pillows."Go put those in the car and let me be..." I say with mock annoyance and he walks away laughing.

Emma glares at the tent parts that refuse to get back in the tiny case they came in.  
"Should we try rolling it again?" David asks.  
"It is rather simple," Emma replies," the one solution is to throw away the tent in the forest and pretend it never existed. The other solution" she pauses and looks at me "Mom, would you hand me a pillowcase?"  
She grabs all the tent parts and stuffs them in the pillowcase then she smiles. "Problem solved!" she exclaims brightly and she hands the pillowcase to Henry who places it in the car.  
"Whose turn is it to drive?" I ask.  
"Mine," Henry says.  
"Nice try kid," Emma replies.  
"Do you want to drive again?" I ask and I hand the keys to David.  
And once we take off I'm surprised to hear Emma ask "Are we there yet?"  
I turn to look at her questioningly.  
"What?" she asks. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to say? Now that Dad is driving we are like a typical all American family on their way home from their camping trip. You really should take your grandson to a baseball game... " she replies.  
"Most all American families do not carry swords and bows in their trunk..." I smile.  
"Fine, maybe we are a quirky family, maybe we visit renaissance fairs or play dungeons and dragons..."  
I smile. "Quirky is better," I reply. "I don't believe in normal anyway..."  
"So Henry," Emma says hesitantly, "how would you feel if we stayed in Storybrooke a little bit longer, maybe lived here until we figured out how to break the curse?"  
"Stay in Storybrooke? That's awesome. Do get to miss school?" he asks all exited.  
"No, not exactly, you would transfer to the local school," Emma replies and Henry sighs.  
"But Mom, heroes and fairytale characters do not have to go to school! So how come I have to?"  
"That's not true," I reply. "I had several tutors and a dance instructor" I explain and Emma laughs.  
"Oh, Mom, you are such a princess," she replies and to my surprise David chuckles.  
I love the fact that after twenty eight years my daughter and my husband have the opportunity to gang up against me but I understand that I have a part to play so I turn and give David a halfhearted glare.  
"Really?" I ask. "You too?"  
I think my reaction makes him want to laugh even harder but he manages to maintain a straight face and shrug.  
"What can I say," he replies. "My daughter is funny."  
I shake my head in mock indignation and then I ask, "how are you feeling?"  
"I feel great" he replies.  
"Good, because I thought that maybe you and your funny daughter should go to the shooting range and shoot some guns. Because my heart cannot handle a repeat of last night ever again,'  
"That's a great idea!" Emma replies and then she turns to me. "Wait, what exactly is the goal of this? To instill in my father a healthy fear of firearms?"  
I look at both of them and I shake my head.  
"No, not at all. We are in the middle of a strange war and I really want my partner back!" I reply.  
David glances at me and I smile.

I sign Henry up to the local Elementary School.  
"His teacher will be Sister Astrid," the administrator explains. She points to a woman in a photograph of a the school stuff wearing a nun's habit.  
"Her name is sister Astrid?" I ask.  
"That's right."  
"Are you sure?" I try to get her thinking.  
"We had a staff shortage and sister Astrid was a substitute but she quickly became a favorite so we were very happy when she joined our staff permanently. We are very luck t have her..."  
"Yes, she is amazing," I reply.  
"Do you know her?"  
"Well," I hesitate, "do you remember a long time ago, in another life, being somebody else?"  
"No, I can't say that I do,"  
"Are you sure? Think carefully. Do you remember a house on a green hill and a well and a pail of water..."  
The administrator looks at me and for a brief second I see it, a flicker of a long forgotten memory in her eyes. "Did I have a brother?" she asks.  
"A brother named Jack." I reply.  
She looks at me and then she laughs. "That's a nursery rhyme. You had me going there for a minute...That's a good one."

"Is he all set for school then?" Emma asks when we all meet for dinner at Granny's several hours later.  
"Yes and my teacher is a real Enchanted Forest fairy!" Henry says excitedly. "I bet she doesn't give homework. I bet she doesn't even do real class. Maybe she sprinkles the students with fairy dust and we fly around Storybrooke together."  
"Whoah! Slow down there kid! She might be a fairy but she doesn't remember it. If she doesn't remember she won't be teaching you how to fly anytime soon." Emma replies and then she places her arm around Henry's shoulders. But a little dose of reality is not enough to keep Henry down. He perks up again.  
"But when we break the curse she will remember, and then I can take flying lessons!" he responds brightly. "So you better hurry up and break the curse!"  
"How did you like it at the shooting range?" I ask David.  
"Will it surprise you if I say that Dad is a really good shot?" Emma asks.  
I shake my head. "No, not at all. It would surprise me if he wasn't."  
"Mom," Henry interrupts, "I just remembered, there's an arcade around the corner, can we go please, please, please?"  
"You guys don't mind do you?" Emma asks. Just order a couple of burgers for us. We shouldn't be too long," she says and then they storm out of Granny's.  
"How did you like it?" I try to ask David again but this time I'm interrupted by Ruby who seems more quiet and contemplative than her usual gum chewing self.  
"Excuse me," she says, "but I delivered the Sheriff his lunch today, and he told me that you offered to tell him about his story and who he used to be and I was wondering if...-"  
"Won't you pull up a chair Ruby" I smile."Would you like to hear your story?"  
She hesitates and then she nods several times.  
I tell her the story of the beautiful girl in the red cape who grew up fearing the wolf, not realizing that the beast she so feared was inside her. I tell her how Ruby Red girl and the runaway princess Snow White became best friends. So much so that when she had a choice to end Snow's life and join her wolf pack or save her she chose to save Snow. I tell her how Ruby Red claimed Snow White as her family. And since Snow had spent such a long time being hunted by her own family, her own stepmother, that was the most precious thing Red could have said to her. I go on and on I tell her everything I remember and when I'm finished we are both teary eyed.  
"And is any of this real?" Ruby asks.  
"All of it," I reply.  
"But," Ruby answers, "but what you are doing, what you are asking me is to believe in fairytales!"  
"Yes, yes I am," I reply. "But I am also asking you to believe in who you really are. That underneath Ruby who works at the diner there's a beautiful woman named Red, and that woman is a hero, that woman will not hesitate to put herself in danger again and again and she is fierce when protecting her friends."  
Ruby shakes her head. "Nobody will believe that," she replies. "I'm just a girl stuck working in a diner, no one sees me as a hero."  
"I see you," I reply and I feel my voice catching "but it doesn't really matter what I believe. What matters is what you believe!" I reply and Ruby looks at me and I can see the longing in her eyes. The desire to be more. The need to believe that she is more than a girl working at Granny's diner.  
"I believe!" she replies and I smile. I can't help the tears flowing out of my eyes.  
"And who are you?" she asks. "If' I'm Ruby Red, then who are you?"  
"I was...-" and I hesitate because David raises his eyebrows. Because how can I ask Ruby to believe if I'm using past tense, if I'm doubting my self. So I nod and I take a deep breath. "I am Snow White!" I state firmly in a voice that doesn't leave room for any hint of doubt.  
"Snow White and Ruby Red," Ruby smiles. "And he is your prince I suppose?" she asks looking at David.  
I nod and reach for his hand. He squeezes my finger and returns my smile. "He's a lot more than that," I reply."He's the reason I accepted my birthright and reclaimed my throne. We saved the kingdom from an Evil witch together, tried to anyway."  
On that exact moment Emma bursts in followed by Henry.  
"Mom, you are not going to believe want just happened!"  
"What is it Emma? Is everything alright?"  
"The clock. The clock on the clock tower, the one that's been broken forever?"Emma asks.  
"Yes, yes, what about the clock?"  
"It just moved!" Henry say loudly. "The clock just moved."  
"Really?" Ruby says. "I want to see!" So Emma, Ruby and Henry run back outside.  
I look at David. "Do you think...?"  
David nods. "Of course. This can't be a coincidence!"  
"So you think that the clock moved the moment she said she believed?"  
"It would appear so," he replies. "Come on, let's go see."  
So we walk outside together and he wraps his arm around my neck as we watch the clock ticking for the first time in twenty eight years.

Emma took Henry to the room hours ago.  
"Tomorrow is a school day," she insisted, so no more staying up kid."  
"I bet fairytale characters didn't have bed times" he replied.  
Emma and David turned to me waiting for me to offer insight on the life of fairytales.  
"I don't think so," I replied.  
"Oh come on, help us out! I'd tell him but I don't remember," David smiled.  
"Your grandpa went to bed by sundown and got up by sunrise. He had all sort of animals to feed and take care off and a barn to clean before he even got breakfast." I reply.  
Emma looked at David and her eyes got bigger.  
"That's not fun," Henry replied. "Alright I'll go to bed" he said and on his way out he gave David a big hug.  
"I'm sorry," I say quietly after they walk away.  
"For what?" he asks.  
"I just threw your memories out there, like they were nothing, so Emma wouldn't laugh at me being a prissy princess."  
"So?"  
"But your information was sensitive. You had to work hard since you were a child. It wasn't mine to use as a decoy! That was incredibly selfish on my part."  
"Snow, it's fine. I don't mind them knowing. I would have told them myself if I remembered. Now tell me princess, when did you go to bed?"  
I shake my head. "I went to bed at the same time every night. I had a nanny for storytelling and a nanny for lullaby singing if my mother was too busy to put me to bed."  
David smiles. "Yes, I see why you didn't want to tell her that...she wouldn't have been able to let that one go, would she?"  
"Then my mother died and everything fell apart..." I continue.  
"Oh! So in the end your information is more sensitive than mine, isn't it?" he says quietly.  
"I guess so..."

We stroll around Storybrooke, David's arm around my shoulders my arm around his waist. People glance at us and I know they note the age difference but no one says anything. Then Leroy stumbles out of the Rabbit Hole again.  
"That's Grumpy," I whisper and David nods.  
"Hi there sister," Grumpy says and he walks unsteadily towards us.  
"Did you find your prince...I mean husband...?" he slurs.  
"I did," I smile and then I look at him closely. "Wait a minute! I didn't tell you he was a prince, how did you know?"  
Grumpy looks at me and his eyes get wider, like he just got caught.  
"Grumpy? Last time you said 'you can't own fairies everybody knows that'. You didn't say 'they are not real'...Grumpy do you remember?"  
"Do I remember? Does anyone really remember anything?" he replies.  
"I don't know. Do you remember me Grumpy?"  
"Snow! You cut off your hair..." he says and then he shrugs. "When I'm drunk I remember, I remember being the sort of person a fairy could fall in love with... I used to tell people. Nobody believed me. So I drink to remember my story and to forget that nobody believes what I'm remembering..."  
"I remember. And I believe you," I say quietly and I place my hand on his shoulder.  
"I believe you even though I don't remember," David adds.  
Grumpy looks at us and nods, he takes a step forward and we are both in a Grumpy bear hug, then he backs up and looks at us. "You are here now," he says quietly. "You found us. Maybe things are about to change."

David and I walk slowly all the way to the docks and its almost midnight when we find out way back. I'm about to say something when David grabs me and pulls me in the shadows motioning me to be quiet.  
"Look!" he whispers and he points to the direction of the clock tower.  
Regina is standing in front of it, in her perfect outfit and high heels not a hair out of place. She crosses her arms and watches the hands of the clock moving, mocking her. Then she throws up her right hand in a way I've seen her do so many times before, when she threw fireballs at us. She is testing her magic. She tries two more times but nothing happens. No ball of fire, no smoke, not even a tiny flicker. She takes a deep breath and she gets ready to walk away.  
"Should I confront her?" I ask David.  
"If you like, I'm here, I got your back." he replies.  
I squeeze his hand and I step into the light.  
"Having a rough night Regina?"  
She jumps and turns to face me.  
"Well if it isn't Snow White and her boytoy," she replies. "Snow White is more appropriate now when it matches your hair," she replies.  
My hair is not white of course but I still feel her taunt sting a little.  
"Are you done?" I ask trying not to sound hurt.  
"No, no no, I'm just getting started. Hello Charming! When is Mama Snow going to give you up and let you play with someone your age?" she asks. "We have all sort of pretty girls, peasants and ex-fairies and ex-princesses we even have a couple of ex-mermaids if that's what you are into these days. I tried to give you a younger wife but Snow shot that idea down so fast..."  
David doesn't say anything at first, he just places his arm around my neck and he smiles.  
And I can see that simple statement works because Regina's face just contorts with rage.  
"So," David asks "did you know that Rumpelstiltskin tried to kidnap us?" he asks.  
Regina can't hide the surprise on her face.  
"Oh, you didn't know," David continues and she flexes her fist and I know that if she had the power to form a fireball now would be the time to duck and run.  
"Look, clearly your curse didn't turn out the way you liked," I say softly. "Have you tried to break it?"  
She makes a face at me then she sighs. "I've tried, if you must know Snow White. But apparently villains can't break curses."  
"Is this what you see yourself as?" I ask and I take a step forward.  
David tenses up, he doesn't want me getting too close.  
"No, but since I can't break the curse, circumstances would indicate that I am, wouldn't they?"  
"Maybe, but you don't have to be," I reply.  
And there, right there I see it, I see the longing in her eyes, the longing to be somebody else, somebody better. And then she glares at me and it's gone.  
"Don't be ridiculous," she says and her voice comes out too loud. "You didn't manage to change me in the Enchanted Forest and you won't succeed now. Enjoy your boytoy until he tires of you," Regina says and she storms off.  
I look down feeling quite defeated.  
"Are you alright?" David asks.  
"I'm fine," I say but we both know that's not true.  
"Well, now we know that Regina and Rumpelstiltskin are still at odds. You said that Rumpelstiltskin was the most powerful man in our realm so if Regina dragged him over in her dark curse he must have had a reason he wanted to be here. And we know that the Sheriff doesn't tell Regina everything otherwise she would have known about our kidnapping."  
"You are right! You are absolutely right. The Sheriff didn't tell her...maybe she is loosing her grip on him." I reply.  
"Maybe she is loosing her grip because you told him who he is," David replies. "Your strategy appears to be working."  
"It can't be that easy to break the curse."  
"Maybe not break it, but weaken it," David says and he points at the ticking clock.  
"I think you are onto something," I reply.  
And then he turns to look at me. "You know, being honest with me and admitting that Regina got to you doesn't make you weak," he says.  
"I'm not worried about being weak," I hesitate "I'm worried about...a small part of me agrees with her."  
"Yeah, me too."  
I try not to panic, not to react. I just stay frozen in my spot, my eyes wide open, my hands shaking, trying not to sound terrified because my heart is about to break. "You do?"  
"Absolutely. She declared herself a villain. I agree with that wholeheartedly," he replies."Why, what did you think I meant?"  
"Nothing," I mumble.  
"Good," he replies and then he pulls me in and kisses me so tenderly that I almost forget what it was we were talking about.  
And then he whispers "Snow, the woman mistook revenge for love and dragged us all into this mess, she doesn't understands what we have, you can't listen to a single thing she is saying..."  
And I nod trying to hold back my tears.  
"Listen, in this world Rumpelstiltskin doesn't have any powers, neither does Regina. But we do!"  
"What do you mean?"  
"When I was asleep I was able to hear what you whispered even though I was miles away. Do you have a logical explanation for that?"  
I shake my head.  
"Seems to me we have our own special kind of magic...and it's working even here in this land." he replies.  
I tug on his shirt, pull him in closer and let my lips find his. "I love you Charming,"  
He smiles. "I love you, Snow..."

We reach our room at Granny's and we are surprised to see sheriff Graham leaning at the wall by our door.  
"I'm sorry to disturb you this late," he hesitates.  
"It's alright, do you have more information on the case?" we ask.  
"No, I just needed to talk to you. Can you tell me my story? If its not too much trouble."  
"Would you like to come in?" I invite him.  
He walks in our room and he hesitates then he sits at the chair by the window.  
I sit next to him and I tell him everything I've ever heard about him, everything I'd witnessed personally and everything that David had told me about him at the time. I even bring up that Regina had taken out his heart. He listens to me intently and then he nods. "That explains a lot," he replies. "Do you think she still has my heart?"  
"I'll come with you if you want to confront her tomorrow," I reply.  
"I'll be coming along," David adds.  
The sheriff looks at me and then David and he smiles and says "Thank you for everything, Snow White," and he walks out of our room.  
I'm so exhausted I take my shoes and most of my clothes off and crawl into bed.  
David lays next to me and pulls me in closer.  
"I need to tell you all your stories too," I mumble.  
"I thought you already told me my story yesterday,"  
"I told you about us and about your origins but there's a lot more I could tell you. I know all the stories you've told me from your childhood and then there's the war we fought and our days in the castle and all sort things. I feel like I should tell you everything, and if I try harder there a lot more I can probably remember..."  
He wraps his arm around my waist. "Is there something specific you need me to know?"  
"I don't know, don't you want to know everything?"  
"It's alright Snow, I think I know enough."'  
"Don't you want to know the rest?" I asks.  
"I do, but I don't have to know it all right now. I understand who I am and what I'm supposed to be doing."  
"But what about all these decisions we need to be making? If you knew everything you could decide for yourself. If you don't know everything then you are relying on me. I could be trying to manipulate you or get you to keep agreeing with me just by feeding you half truths..."  
"Are you trying to manipulate me?" he asks a half smirk on his face.  
I shake my head.  
"I trust you," he replies. Besides, I've heard so many of your thoughts and your confessions, at this point I feel like I know you better than I know myself, I don't think you'd ever do that."  
"But that doesn't seem fair. I know everything and you are dependent on me for information."  
"Who said anything about fair? None of this is fair. You raised Emma on your own. That had to be incredibly difficult. You came back older while everyone you ever knew and loved stayed frozen in time. That doesn't seem fair. You were alone for twenty eight years. It's not fair, but we are here and love each other in spite of it."  
I close my eyes and let him continue.  
"Having to tell everyone who they are and telling them their stories seems to be an incredible burden on you. And I'm sorry I can't help you with that. So if there's anything you need me to know, or remember so you don't have to, tell me. But don't feel like you have to fill me in on everything in order to balance the scales. Its alright. I know enough."  
"Are you sure?" I whisper.  
"Let's make a deal. I'll hold on to your confessions and you hold on to all my memories. That seems like a fair trade! Maybe that's our new plan. I keep you safe and you keep my memories safe along with everybody else's. And you stay alive... Does that sound like a plan or are you going to say that I'm being too optimistic?"  
"No," I whisper and my voice chokes up. "This is a beautiful plan..."

* * *

Thank you for reading my story! Please tell me your thoughts!

 **Guest** **chapter 5 I came into this fic with to be honest, a lot doubt. How snowing would work. How the situation between them has changed. But you have fully convinced me and now I'm pleasantly surprised. And now when i see Davids side of things, I feel a bit ashamed too that I didn't believe in their love. It's all about the change of perspectives really. Emma and Henry meeting David was heart melting, a family reunited at last. Henry is so cute with his 'Gramps'. I didn't expect the appearance from madame mayor and her cruel words, but I'm glad we got away from the Kathryn situation. Snow is hurting so much and I just want to hug her and tell her it's going to be okay. I really felt Davids monologue, but I couldn't help but appreciate the irony that he's accusing her of being dramatic (Which she is) while doing a whole speech in the middle of the forest and then leaving. She did treat him differently calling him David instead of Charming, hiding stuff from him because he doesn't have his memory, it's unfair that she didn't think he had the same strong feelings for her that she has for him, but she's also older and experienced too much things. And the age difference will certainly be a big problem. I hope they can find a middle ground. I have some thoughts who has kidnapped them, a certain mad tea drinker perhaps. But I know that Emma will save them. Thanks for the update.**

Hmmm! The madhatter would have been a great idea for a kidnapper. I'm glad I'm winning you over. And thank you for pointing out the irony of David's dramatic exit. I hadn't noticed. I was laughing so hard when I red this. :)

 **baratta jennifer chapter 5 Your writing gets better with each chapter.**

Thank you so much!

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 5 That is just crule! That chapter was so heartbreaking! Loved Snow standing up to Regina. You can Teel that she is so done with the curse. She wants it broke. I'm really intrigued to see who took them and what's going to happen.**

That was cruel and I'm sorry! In my defense I had written this biiig chapter and I had two different kidnappers in mind. I needed time to decide who would be better. I'm still sorry though...

 **Guest chapter 5 You never cease to amaze. You have given us David's perspective and I want to thank you. I think this episode is similar to Snow wanting to face Medusa or how she wants to have Regina take her heart and crush it in canon. The idea to have David hear Snow is wonderful. It makes sense because EF David had completed his task so why wouldn't he let go. I totally agree with you about Homer's version. This was the version I loved. In other versions Ulysses is depicted as devious and cunning. I Homers version it is his singular love for his wife and family drives him onward. The other characters I mention are definitely products of fanfiction. I mixed them up. Menelaus was Helen's husband. It was Agamemnon who was murdered by his wife, aClytemnestra. The side characters get whole plays developed. In most of these versions, Ulysses is depicted as devious. Since I read Homers version first I could never seem him in that manner. This is similar to the way I see Snowing as true and I don't like any the other myriad pairings.**

Yes, I love how Snow has some very real flaws in canon. I love how she just went to bed and had realistic dark days where she felt broken and sad and ready to give up. Because when the flaws are real the fact that they rise above them is an act of even greater bravery.  
(Honestly when it comes to the ancients even Homer's could be considered fanfiction. They took existing myths and did whatever they wanted to them, they wrote plays and songs and AU and villains to good guys etc I've always considered Ulysses to be a hero, but now that I'm older I realize that the whole Trojan Horse that was his idea, was not an act of bravery... etc etc) Anyway, back to Snowing, thank you for your kind words. : )

 **Austenphile chapter 4 So I fell behind again! I don't remember much about the Odyssey other than it fits Snow as she was trying to get back to her home (Charming) and refusing advances. You are doing a good job showing that she has changed and it is not as easy to be in love with a kid (because he is still a kid compared to her) as she thought. Not insurmountable, but not seemless.**

 **Austenphile chapter 5 What an amazing chapter. You write Snow so well. I love how you captured her thoughts. And love that she is so resourceful. I enjoyed the family bonding time. And the cinversation between Snow and Charming really brought tears to my eyes. Love the twist that he could hear her the whole time when she talked to him. Now who has them? My first thought was Regina. But she would want Snow dead. Maybe Gold to use Snow as bait for Emma to find his son?**

Thank you! And yes! It was Gold.  
I was trying to use the Odyssey to make a point about choosing the older wife regardless of her ability to have children. But yes, Snow going home to Charming is a good parallel.  
I like what you are saying : not insurmountable but definitely not seamless.


	7. Chapter 7

I open my eyes. I'm laying in a soft bed at Granny's bed and breakfast. I turn around fast to make sure. Here he is. He is still here. My David. I look at him sleeping next to me and I pinch myself because this still feels like it's too good to be true. Too good to last. He is here. And he loves me. And he is mine. I smile as I watch his chest rise and fall. This is amazing, us laying in bed together. However today is going to be a busy day, so there's no time to waste. I should get up. As if he senses I'm about to get out of bed, David rolls over and places his arm across my waist. I smile. Maybe there's no rush, maybe I can stay in bed a little bit longer. So I lay there, and I caress his arm and I watch him sleep. He looks so peaceful and content, he's almost smiling. This is the third morning we wake up together. It's been such a long time since I've shared my bed with anybody. When Emma was a little girl she'd come sleep with me whenever she had nightmares. And when Henry was younger he'd climb in my bed and watch cartoons in my bedroom. But this is entirely different. I've missed this so much, just me and David laying in bed together. I think of all the beds and tents and mats we shared during the war against Regina and George, how many times we just laid on our capes under the stars, the canopy bed in our castle and then for the first time in twenty eight years I let my mind think of my first night in the land without magic after I ran away from the hospital, when I hid and nursed baby Emma in the forest. After spending my nights with Charming feeling safe and loved, my first night in the forest alone in the dark was quite a shock. I thought my days hiding in the forest alone as a bandit were over. And here I was, starting over again, with his baby in my arms feeling so alone.  
And I realize that I'm laying in bed sobbing and I don't understand why. These are places and thoughts I didn't let my self get near the past twenty eight years. I told myself to look forward. I told myself that mourning the past is not going to get Charming back. I told my self to buck up, to toughen up, to put one foot in front of the other, to listen to only the tough warrior parts in me and ignore the princess parts who wanted to cry. And now, here I am, laying in bed with him and somehow this is the moment my heart chooses to pick up the broken pieces and look at them. This is the moment I choose to stare at the wounds that still hurt. And I don't want to be like this, I don't want him to wake up and find me bawling, I don't want to have to explain why I'm sad, why I'm still hurting, but I can't stop. I can't stop crying. And then I realize that maybe its the first time in twenty eight years that my heart has actually felt safe enough to examine the wounds that haven't healed yet. I cover my mouth to stifle my sobs. But it's too late. David opens his eyes. He looks at me, he notes my crying and his eyes grow wider. And I don't have the heart to tell him that I don't want to talk about it, so I just close my eyes. And maybe he knows by instinct or maybe he can read in my face that I don't want to answer any questions, because he pulls me in closer, kisses the corner of my eye then he leans his forehead against my cheek and he lays there holding me. And he doesn't know it but its the exact same thing he did the very morning of the curse when he woke up and found me crying because I really didn't want to go through with our plan. He'd reached and held me and cried along with me. And then hours later when I decided to put my objections into words that's when he'd said "What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?" The phrase that both encouraged and haunted me in the past twenty eight years. I went into labor exactly thirty seconds after he uttered those words. The curse fell upon us about an hour later. It's as if he gave permission to the curse to tear us apart.  
After a few minutes of him holding me in silence he clears his throat and he whispers "I'm sorry."  
I look up at him surprised."For what?" I ask.  
"I'm sorry that I was naive and arrogant enough to think you could go through this alone and not get hurt by it," he replies.  
And his words hit some kind of mark because I feel myself sobbing harder now. And when I manage to calm down and reclaim my voice, I press my forehead against his and reply "It wasn't your fault."And then I pause because I notice that his cheeks are damp too and that makes my heart burn and ache and love him even more.  
Maybe this isn't something we can fix with words, but I have to say something...  
"Sometimes I think that we should have just held onto each other and let the curse wash over us, and just go together, like a Romeo and a Juliet..." I reply.  
He frowns.  
"Are they friends of yours?"  
I smile through my tears. " No, they are not actual people, at least I think they aren't" Because according to the land without magic people Snow White and Prince Charming aren't real either. And yet here I am.  
"Romeo and Juliet is a famous play in the land without magic. It's about two teenagers who fall in love but they are from two rival families and they can't ever be together. So they get secretly married and after a series of complicated misunderstandings they kind of get poisoned and die."  
His eyes get wider.  
"And you like that story?" he asks hesitantly.  
"It's a classic" I reply.  
"Its a little dark" he frowns  
I replay the information on the play I just gave him in my head on the play and I laugh. I throw my head back and I laugh so hard that I can't breathe, so hard that I have tears in my eyes. I turn around and kiss him and I'm still laughing.  
I love that he hesitated to tell me how terrible my story is. I love that he told me anyway. I love that he's here and I'm no longer walking around in the land without magic with no one to talk to about how strange everything is. I just love, love that he is here.  
"Yes, it's a little dark," I reply. "It's actually a great story, just my description didn't do it justice. I find that people here are very suspicious of happy endings. Sometimes they get what we would consider a perfectly good happy ending and they mess with it and overthink it and they throw it away and start over...I don't know, even without curses life seems harder here," I reply and he nods.  
I wait a few seconds then I say "I'm actually feeling better, how about you?"  
"I'll be fine," he replies.  
"David," I say quietly "everything I went through was worth it, if it meant waking you up! "  
He pulls me in closer. I bury my face in the crook of his neck and I feel his lips on my forehead then I lift my face and let my lips meet his. And even though we are barely talking I can feel our bond getting stronger. I get dressed then I glance in the mirror. There's something different about me today. You'd think after all this crying that my face would be all red and puffy, but its not. Something has changed, I'm not sure exactly what. Maybe my laughing wrinkles are getting smoother, or my skin is glowing or my eyes are sparkling or maybe I'm just having a great hair day. David walks up to me and fixes my shirt collar and I pull him closer to me and look at us together in the mirror. Despite the unconventional age difference, we look like we belong together, like our bodies were meant to find each other through space and time. As if we were born to love each other, forged together through love and pain and hope. I smile and pull out my phone.  
"This is a selfie," I explain. I snap the picture and I show it to him. "Beats spending a month standing still for a portrait doesn't it?" I ask. Not that we ever did that. We never got chance to do any of that. "We should get you a cell phone too" I add. David looks at our picture on my phone, then he looks at me carefully like he's about to say something then he just smiles but he doesn't say anything.  
"Ready to go?" I ask "We have so many things to do today."

We walk into the police station. Emma is already there, wearing the deputy's badge.  
"Good morning, Dad!" she smiles. "Mom! Did you do something different? Because you are looking amazing today!" she adds.  
"Thank you," I smile. "What did the guys back home say when you told them you were accepting the position of the deputy in a town called Storybrooke?" I smile.  
"I didn't tell them any of that, I just requested a leave of absence. They didn't ask too many questions."  
"Good," I reply. "Where is your new boss anyway?"  
"Graham is talking to the DA about our guests here," she says and she points at the jail cells now occupied by the two trolls that kidnapped us.  
I look at them carefully. Now that I know who they are I can see the faint resemblance. They look bored and very nervous when David glances in their direction.  
The door on the right opens and out comes the Sheriff and another man, an older man and my smile freezes on my face because I know exactly who that man is. Twenty nine years ago, when we defeated the Evil Queen and King George, the white knights that did not defect to our side but remained loyal to him, once the war was lost, swore that king George was hiding in the forest, in failing health, and he had nothing but a few days to live. They swore he wouldn't make it and of course they refused to give up his position. At the time Regina being a witch was such a more tangible threat that after looking for him for a week we decided to give up. If he was dying we might as well let him die in the forest in peace. Except the man I see standing before me is king George and he is very much alive.  
Instinctively I take a step backwards and bump into David standing behind me. I try to look calm, indifferent even, as if nothing unusual is going on.  
David places his hand on my back to tell me he knows something is off and he's ready. I notice the letter opener that was laying on the desk to my right now gone. David must have snatched it. Just in case.  
The former king's eyes zero in on me and he is not particularly subtle as looks me over and steps towards me.  
His smile is quite predatory as he says "Hello. I don't believe we've met. I'm DA Spencer."  
"Hello," I reply curtly trying not to let my emotions show.  
"I didn't catch your name," he insists. He reaches for my hand and he's about to raise it to his lips. I look at him incredulously. Is the king actually flirting with me?  
"Blanchard," I reply firmly as I pull back my hand. He doesn't remember me and I really should play along. But the thought of the man who trapped my husband, cursed me and essentially murdered my husband's mother kissing my hand is way more than I can stomach.  
David takes a step forward, places his left arm on my shoulder, and I can feel the letter opener concealed in his sleeve then he extends his right hand to the DA.  
"David!" he offers extending his hand to the former king.  
The king tries to hide his annoyance at the interruption. He looks at David's hand on my shoulder and he's not quite sure what to make of it. "As I was about to tell your mother, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting her...-"  
"Wife," David interrupts still smiling, his eyes glaring at the king daring him to say anything more.  
"Wife!" the king repeats and he pauses for a moment to look at me. "Of course. Well if you'll excuse me, I'm already late for a meeting," he cuts the conversation short and walks past us out of the room.  
"Alright! What just happened?" Emma asks folding her hands on her chest.  
I sigh. "Are we safe to talk in here?" I ask.  
"I did a bug sweep before I even accepted the job,' Emma smiles.  
That's my girl, I think but this is Emma's new work place so I know better than to say anything that will undermine and embarrass her.  
"You just met your evil adopted grandfather," I reply then I turn to David "Your adopted father is the DA, which means he is really powerful. We do not want to wake him up. And him being the DA completely throws a wrench in my plan to play this straight."  
Emma looks at me all confused and she is not the only one.  
"Can you start at the beginning Mom?"  
So I take a deep breath and I bring everybody up to speed. First I tell them how evil and ruthless the king was, then I explain to David how the court system works then I tell Emma and Graham what my plan was and how thing just got complicated.  
"Look, if we go to Regina to ask about your heart Sheriff, she will most likely deny having it. But if we have a warrant to search her house and her office things would be different. Plus we would be sending such a strong message to her. She is not above the law here. So my plan was to tell the truth about the curse to whoever stands between us and the judge, tell the truth to the judge and ask the judge to issue an actual warrant. But I definitely do not want to wake up DA Spencer. In fact I want him sleeping forever, if that's possible."  
"Your plan could still work. We do not need the DA to ask for a warrant. Why don't we go straight to the judge?" Emma asks.  
"If the judge isn't some other super villain then sure. That could work." I reply.  
Sheriff Graham pulls out an older issue of Storybrooke Mirror.  
"There's a picture of the judge in the second page."  
I open the newspaper fast. "This guy?' I ask "That's the judge?"  
"Yes," the Sheriff replies.  
"That's king Midas, Abigail's father. He is both wise and reasonable. I can work with that. Where do we find him?" I ask.

David and I are heading to the courthouse.  
"I've known Midas since I was a little girl. His daughter...-"  
"Is Abigail, my ex-fiance, right?" David asks.  
"That's right," I reply."I knew her when I was a little girl. She was a couple of years older than me. Anyway I think this could work." I reply then I stop."Wait a minute, I forgot to ask what his current name is."  
"Judge Johnson," David replies.  
I look at him surprised.  
"I saw the name in the newspaper," he explains.  
"Thank you," I smile.

King Midas is sitting at a large mahogany desk. I walk over to him and I smile.  
"Hello" he says warmly. "My secretary informed me that this is urgent. I'm not due in court until a couple of hours. Won't you sit down. What can I do for you?"  
His secretary being the lovely lady who lived in a shoe was all too happy to let me see him once I told her who she was.  
"My name is Mary Margaret Blanchard. I'm a retired police officer."  
"Thank you for your service Mrs Blanchard. What can I do for you today?"  
I hesitate and then I decide that I'm going to go all in.  
"This is going to sound strange but we've met before."  
"Have we?"  
"In another life, back when you and my father were rulling the Enchanted Forest."  
"Back when what?" he says and I know I have seconds before he calls security.  
"There was a curse in our land that transported us all here against our will and gave us new identities. You used to be the king of the Eastern kingdom."  
"A king?" he frowns. But he is just as kind and patient with me as he was back when he was playing chess with my father during our visit to his kingdom, when five year old me climbed on my father's lap and knocked over all the chess pieces.  
He'd smiled and said "And one day Snow White when you are Queen you are going to shake up the whole Enchanted Forest, I can tell..."  
I nod. "It was a land full of legends and magic and you were one of the wise leaders."  
"And who were you?" he asks.  
"I was Snow White, the heir to the Northern kingdom."  
"I see..." he says and he looks at me. I expect him to ask me politely to leave but he doesn't. "And you are?" he asks David.  
"I'm from the Northern kingdom," David replies, avoiding wisely to get into further details.  
Midas looks at me frowning."You are telling me an incredible tale, I hope you understand that some of your claims are hard to believe. Can you tell me more?"  
So I start at the beginning, I describe my step mother and her dark curse, how I escaped with my daughter and how I spent the last twenty eight years looking for the people of the Enchanted forest.  
King Midas nods."You have a daughter," he says.  
"We do."  
"According to this world's popular myths, king Midas had a daughter too."  
"Yes!" I smile.  
"Well?" he asks."is that part real?"  
"It's real," I reply and to my surprise he closes his eyes and raises his hand to his heart.  
"I knew it," he whispers and he opens his eyes."Is she here? And does my daughter believe your story?"  
"She is here but I haven't really tried to convince her yet," I reply.  
"Then I want to make a deal with you Snow White. Talk to my daughter, make her believe so she and I can be reunited and I will sign any kind of search warrant you want for any and all of Regina's properties."  
That's good but not good enough. "But sir, "I try again, "the sheriff doesn't have his heart. His actual heart. Can we take care of this first and then try to reunite you with your daughter?"  
"I haven't had my heart either," he says."According to what you just told me I haven't had contact with my daughter for twenty eight years. The Evil Queen might as well have ripped out my heart too. You understand what it's like, don't you?"  
I sigh. "Very well. We'll be in touch," I reply and we head out his office.

David and I are sitting at Granny's. I'm munching on my fries shaking my head.  
"Well that was unexpected. What do we do now?"  
"Now we talk to Abigail," David offers.  
"Sure, except you are part of Abigail's false memories. As far as she is concerned I stole her husband away. Why should she trust anything I have to say?"  
"Right, that's going to be a problem... What if we reunite her with her husband first. Once that happens she will be more likely to believe you."  
I frown. "This is a great idea, David except for a minor complication."  
"What is it?"  
"I only know of Fredrick because of what you told me. You met and saved the guy after Midas accidentally turned him into a golden statue. I've never met him. I don't know what he looks like. How will we find him?"  
"Alright that's a big complication," David is willing to concede."I definitely don't remember him."  
Ruby walks up to us and refills our coffee cups. She is still looking beautiful like always but today her outfit is more subtle. Less revealing.  
"If a coma is the equivalent of a sleeping curse in this world " David asks "what would the equivalent of a memory spell be?"  
"Hypnosis," Ruby replies and she smiles at us.  
"What?" I ask.  
"Dr Archie is a psychiatrist. His office is a few doors down. Anyway he's helped people remember things before by doing this thing called hypnosis."  
"This could really work!" I exclaim loudly. "That's a great idea! You guys are amazing!"  
I get up and walk toward the counter to pay for our lunch.  
Granny looks at me and offers me a real smile.  
"Ruby told me what you guys talked about the other day. About who we really are... So I decided to try my hand at baking a blueberry pie. I'll let you know how it turns out."  
"Blueberry pie was for when there was boy trouble," I smile. "At least that's what you used to say."  
Granny casts a glance at David. "Well girl, for your sake I hope I'm right..." she winks and walks away before I get a chance to react. I stare at Granny walking away my eyes wide open. That was unexpected, I think.  
I look at David who smiles back at me and my heart skips a beat. I'm head over heels desperately in love with a husband much younger than me. I'm in trouble in more ways than one. Blueberry pie seems like a great idea.

Emma, David and I knock on Dr Archibald Hopper's door. He opens the door and invites us in. He looks at me and I can tell he already knows what I'm up to and he wants to know who I think he is.  
"I heard some fascinating stories about you, " he says and he looks at me. "I'm curious about your e... theory, of how even though we are living ordinary lives there'a hero inside us ready to come out..."  
I look at him and I don't recognize his face. His voice though is another story. His voice sounds so familiar.  
"It's more than a theory Dr Hopper," I reply. "It's more of a alternate universe, previous life concept...-"  
"Oh I see!" he says and I see the longing in his eyes. He wants to be recognized. He wants to know who he truly is, but I can't remember him.  
"You said on the phone that one of you needed help remembering someone?" he asks.  
"That would be me. I need to remember someone. It is really important," David steps up.  
"Alright, David, is it? Ordinarily I wouldn't just do this, not without filling questionnaires and having a couple of sessions to establish a baseline, if you will, but I understand that there are special circumstances here."  
"It's a police matter, we can't really elaborate,"Emma replies.  
"Right, so if you are willing to go through with this, let us proceed..."  
"Wait,"I hesitate, "David was in a coma recently. Is there any danger in doing this?"  
"There is always some danger," Dr Archie replies, "when dealing with the human subconscious, one can never be too careful."  
"We need to do this. You can always wake me up again," David looks at me.  
I must look really concerned because David smiles at me "Snow! You got this. Now let me help!"  
Of course he believes in us without any reservation. That's who he is, that's who he's always been and I can't help but love him for it. I smile and I nod.  
"Alright David, I need you to lay on the couch, close your eyes and focus on my voice as you go back in time..."  
David lays on the couch and for a second I see a hint of concern in his eyes. He reaches for my hand, closes his eyes and then he looks really relaxed.  
"I'm right here," I say quietly squeezing his hand.  
"We are all here, you are safe," Dr Hopper takes over. "Your memories are all here too, you can access them easily, you are relaxed and calm. Listen to the sound of my voice and place yourself to the event that you need to remember and look slowly at your friends face. Memorize every thing about their face, their stature, the way they talk, who they are. Now on the count of three I will snap my fingers and you will wake up and you will be able to describe to Emma exactly what your friend looks like. One two, three!"  
Dr Hopper snaps his fingers but David doesn't wake up.  
"One, two three!" he tries again and then he looks at me. "He's in too deep. We have to wake him up! David! David can you hear me?"  
"Dad!" Emma tries, "Daddy wake up please! Dad!"  
David stirs but his eyes remain closed.  
"David" Dr Hopper yells and in that moment I realize where I know him from, but that no longer seems important. I really need my David back.  
"Mom! Can you fix this?" Emma looks at me on the verge of panic.  
"I hope so," I reply then I kneel next to David I cup his face in my hands and I say "I know you can hear me! Please come back to me!" I lean and I kiss him on the lips, softly, gently. He is lost in a memory somewhere and I don't want to scare him as I wake him up.  
David moves his head backwards then he takes a deep breath and opens his eyes.  
"You found me," he says quietly and I nod, my eyes welling up.  
"Did you ever doubt I would?" I reply, my voice catching, because for the past twenty eight years that was how I pictured I'd break the curse. I'd storm in, kiss David and the curse would be broken. I hadn't envisioned the memory loss or the age difference, or all my friends walking around with different identities.  
"Well, that was a bit unorthodox but it seems to have worked," Dr Hopper comments. "Are you able to describe the person you are looking for?" he asks.  
David frowns and then he nods "I think so, yes."  
And since the Storybrooke police department doesn't have a sketch artist, Emma pulls out her laptop and uses a computer program to put together the face David describes.  
"Thinner lips," David. "A wider chin." When David is satisfied with the picture Emma gets up.  
"I'll go print this" she says then she pauses to give David a big hug.  
"You scared me," she says then she smiles at him. "I'll meet you at Granny's," she adds on her way out the door.  
"Thank you so much for your help, Dr Hopper," I say quietly. "By the way, I think I remember you."  
"Do you?" he says and he waits eagerly for me to explain.  
"You were Gimminy Cricket back in our land. You were part of my court, you were best friends with Geppetto and the Blue Fairy. You always gave us the best advice!"  
"Gimminy Cricket!" he says and he smiles. "He was one of the good guys wasn't he?"  
And that's when I realize that he doesn't just want to be recognized. He really needs to know that he was a good person.  
"Yes," I reply. "A really good, kind guy, a loyal trustworthy friend!"  
"Well, now that's something, isn't it!" he smiles.

As soon as we are out of Dr Hopper's office I turn to David.  
"Where did you go?" I ask quietly.  
"I got a little lost," he admits. "I think I went to where you described the other night, when Emma asked if you ever lied to me."  
"Oh!" I exclaim and then I wait.  
"I was standing in my bedroom when you walked in and I was so happy to see you. And you let me hold you and then you said 'This, us, it can't happen. I don't love you,' and you were such a terrible liar because you looked at me with those eyes and you were about to cry. But I'd just met you, and I was too devastated to see it," he adds and I smile.  
"That's right! That's exactly how it happened!" I say and he places his arm around my shoulders.  
Then he thinks for a moment and he adds, "We've never had a moment's peace, have we..."  
"We haven't... And I'm so sorry I lied to you."  
"I'm sorry I didn't know better than to let you walk away," he replies and I stop him right there in the middle of the sidewalk, I step on my tiptoes and I give him the most passionate kiss our being out in the open will allow.  
"Well, if we weren't in the middle of a mission I'd suggest we take this elsewhere," David smirks and I giggle.

Emma meets us at Granny's with the printed sketch of Frederick.  
Ruby takes a look at the picture. She recognizes him right away.  
"That's Jim, the PE teacher at the elementary school."  
"Any idea where he lives?" Emma asks.  
"He lives in an apartment nearby."  
"Please tell me he is single!" I say dreading her answer.  
"As far as I know. I've never seen him with anyone and he doesn't get out much. He's kind of a loner."  
"Good,"I breathe a sigh of relief and David looks at me and smiles because he never doubted for a moment that this would work.  
"Well, you guys have some work to do," Emma smiles and hands us the sketch. "I'm going to get back to the police station."

This is the first time I'm going to have to convince someone I don't actually know. So I take a deep breath and I knock on Frederick's door.  
"Yes?" he asks half opening the door.  
He looks exactly like the sketch that David and Emma put together.  
"Hi, Jim, is it? Can I have a moment of your time?"  
"Do I know you?" he asks.  
"Not really, but I need to talk to you."  
"Are you selling something?"  
"No." He really isn't going to make this easy.  
"What can I do for you?"  
"Do you remember having a past life, a life when you weren't a PE teacher but somebody else?"  
He frowns."Are you trying to get me to join your church or something?"  
"No, nothing like that. This is a serous question. Could you answer me please?"  
"A previous life? Yes. No. I don't know..."  
"Because I believe that we all used to live somewhere else, together, in sort of a different life..."  
"Where?" he asks.  
"In the Enchanted forest..."I say and I can tell that I'm never going to convince this guy.  
He smiles and looks at me. "Where?"  
"I know this sounds strange..."  
"No, not at all," he says sarcastically. "Please, tell me more!"  
"Look, you used to be a knight and you were married to Abigail. And you really loved each other..."my voice trails off.  
"Are you selling some kind of fairy tale religion?" he asks and I shake my head.  
I don't know this guy. I knew his wife years before she met him. I don't have an angle, I don't know where to go with this.  
"Listen," I try one more time, "in this life here you are a PE teacher but you used to be more, you used to be a knight, and you had a wife that loved you very much, and I really want you to get back to her..."  
"This is some kind of elaborate prank. I get it. It'd be much funnier if my wife hadn't died in a car accident years ago," he replies and he no longer seems amused or sarcastic. Just lonely and broken. " Please go away," he says and he gets ready to shut the door.  
I look at David feeling completely defeated.I failed. I've let everybody down.  
"Wait," David says quietly. "Do you remember being frozen in time, encased in solid gold, alone in the dark, wishing you were dead because you couldn't stand the infinite darkness...and the only thing that kept you going was her voice, because even though you couldn't see her she was there talking to you..."  
Fredrick freezes and stares at David.  
He opens his mouth to say something and then he closes it and swallows a couple of times.  
"Do you remember her begging you to wake up? Do you remember knowing she was standing right next to you, trying so hard to wake up for her sake, because you couldn't bear to be the reason she was crying after you'd swore to her that you'd be the one to make her happy? Do you remember what it was like when you opened your eyes and she was there crying, how you thought this moment would never come, how you hoped against all hope that you would see her one more time, just long enough so that you could beg her to forgive you for leaving her too soon? Do you remember..." David's voice trails of.  
I can barely see him through my tears as I reach for his hand.  
"How?" Frederick says his voice shaking, "how do you know any of that?"  
David shrugs and doesn't explain. He stays quiet for a few seconds, then he turns to look at me, to make sure that I'm still here, I'm real, not a voice whispering in the darkness. He pulls me in closer and places his arm around my shoulder.  
"In your case, her name was Abigail, and you were married," David starts again. "There was a dark curse that transported us here and erased who we were. She is here. She is confused about who you are and about who she is, confused like the rest of us. Don't you want to meet her?"  
Frederick almost nods then he hesitates.  
"Come on..." David pleads, "you remember wanting a chance to talk to her one last time, are you really going to turn this down?"  
"What if you are wrong?" Frederick whispers. "Because I thought my wife was dead,and I had to let her go, and if you are wrong I can't go through this again..."  
"What if I'm right?" David smiles, "and you refuse to see her...don't do it for you, do it for her. Do you really want her living here alone?" he asks.  
Fredrick shakes his head and opens his door widely. "Come on in, I need you to explain this to me again" he replies.

It's almost dark when Frederick the knight or Jim the PE teacher climbs up the steps to princess Abigail's porch. He hesitates and then he knocks on the door. We stay a few steps behind.  
"We should go," David mumbles. "He's got it. There's nothing more we can do here."  
"Hold on," I argue. After participating in numerous stake outs I have no qualms about watching people. I pull David further back and I get ready to watch the exchange from a safe distance through the shrubbery.  
"Unless you brought a violin and you are willing to provide the atmosphere I think there's nothing more we can do here," David tries to pull me away again.  
"Just wait. Do you want to spend all night wondering if it worked?"  
"I already know how I'm spending my night," he replies and he gives me the sort of look that makes my breath catch and my heart beat faster. "Don't worry Snow," he adds smiling, "it's going to work."  
The door opens. Abigail walks out on her porch and looks at Fredrick.  
"Hello!" she says and smiles.  
Fredrick stands there looking at her.  
Abigail looks a little concerned but she still smiles. "Can I help you?" she asks.  
He doesn't reply right away.  
"Well?"she asks.  
"I don't know. Can you help me?" he manages.  
"She hasn't slammed he door in his face," I whisper trying to sound hopeful."That's a good sign."  
"You are Jim right? You work at the Elementary School?" Abigail tries again.  
"Yes, but I wasn't always."  
"What do you mean?" she asks."You use to work someplace else?"  
"No, I wasn't Jim always. I used to be somebody else, in a previous life," he struggles to explain. "You see, I met Snow White and the Prince. Yes I know how this sounds, but I met them. And she told me that I used to be a knight, married to King Midas' daughter, princess Abigail."  
"Abigail? Two days ago a woman called me Abigail. Was that Snow White?""  
"Probably, " Fredrick replies.  
"The woman I met had short brown hair, green eyes and her husband was much younger than her," Abigail describes and I cringe at the description.  
"Yes! That's her,"  
"So you are here because you think that me and you..."  
Fredrick shrugs."I'm here because my memories aren't adding up,"  
"Well join the club Jim. My memories aren't adding up either. That doesn't mean that I'm going to believe some woman who calls herself Snow White and has a taste for younger men about who I really am."  
"She is not like that. And I don't expect you to just believe her..." Fredrick replies.  
Abigail smiles and looks down. "Then we are done here, aren't we?"  
I look down and I shake my head.  
"Don't worry. It isn't that bad. This could still work," David whispers.  
Maybe his definition of bad and mine differ. Clearly we are not watching the same scene.  
"I guess so," Fredrick sighs. And as Abigail is about to go back inside he adds "except yours is the voice I hear in the dark!"  
"Excuse me?" she asks but she turns around to look at him.  
He reaches for her hand, the one touching the door, ready to go back inside.  
"Your voice," he replies."I remember your voice."  
"From our other life?" she asks and her fingers are wrapping against his as she lets go of the door.  
"Yes," he says quietly.  
"What, what was I saying?"  
"You said 'Please come back to me...'"  
"Did I?" Abigail whispers.  
Fredrick nods.  
"What else do you remember?"  
"Nothing else."  
"What are we supposed to do with just that?" she asks.  
"I don't know." he sighs."I really don't. You are right. This isn't much to go on. I'm sorry I disturbed you. I should go," he replies and he gets ready to walk away. But he can't turn around and walk away because she's still holding on to his finger.  
He looks at her questioningly.  
"Don't,"she whispers.  
He looks surprised.  
She is tearing up now. "I don't remember you, but what I do remember is that I wasn't always this alone. I used to be happy..."  
He slowly moves up his hand and now her whole hand is engulfed in his. His other hand timidly touching her cheek, trying to remember the way she feels across his skin.  
She looks at him and tries to smile.  
"Are you going to kiss me?" she whispers.  
Fredrick leans in I turn my head to look away.  
David tugs on my hand "Can we go now?"he asks.  
Fredrick and Abigail disappear through her door.  
"I can't believe this worked!," I reply. "I can't believe it."  
"It's true love, how could it not work?" David replies and I look at him and smile.  
I remember, I remember when things were this simple, when things were black and white, when true love conquered all the odds. When a prince and a princess would have an adventure in the forest without any doubt that they could win. Before I moved to the real world and let go of that innocent fairytale part of me that found it really easy to believe.  
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asks.  
I shake my head. "I miss this. I miss being a princess that believed that love could conquer all."  
He smiles. "You are still here," he replies. "You are still the same, you just need to watch a couple of stories like this unfold. You just need to remember."  
The irony of David with no memories telling me I need to remember is quite something, the cynic inside me notes. And I don't like listening to that person, I don't want to be that person anymore.  
"I don't feel the same,"I mumble."I feel older and angrier and more cynical."  
"And wiser and extremely strategic, and a little bit of a stalker," he smiles tilting his head towards Abigail's house and I laugh.  
"That's just good police work," I reply. "You have to make sure, you can't leave things to chance."  
"Right," he says with a tone that indicates that he is not entirely convinced.  
"Stop it," I laugh and he smiles.

We are in our room at Granny's laying in bed. We just concluded what I started in the middle of the street a few a hours ago. I'm smiling, my eyes closed laying on my back and he's leaning his head on his arm looking closely at me.  
"You haven't changed," he whispers tracing my cheek with his thumb.  
I open my eyes. I want to believe him I really do. I know he means it too but... come on. Let's be realistic. I've changed.  
"I'm not lying,"he insists. "I just saw you in the Enchanted Forest a few hours ago and you are just as breathtaking as you were then."  
I turn my head to take a closer look at him. He is looking quite earnest and I know he can be quite blunt. He doesn't say nice things unless he means them.  
"I was actually worried about the haircut," I smile. Because when I discovered Regina's Storybrooke address, I had no idea about the age difference so my hair being different seemed like a big deal at the time. Now it's the least of my problems.  
"I like the hair, it's different, but I like it. You are beautiful!" he states simply and I decide that I'm going to turn off the cynic voice inside my head and I'm going to choose to believe him.

We go back to Abigail's sometime around ten in the morning. She opens her door and smiles at us. She is barefoot, wearing a sheer pink housecoat holding a cup of coffee.  
"Good morning," she says. And then she looks at us both. "I think you are right. You are right about everything."  
I smile back at her. "There's one more person that I want you to meet."  
"Who?" she asks.  
"Your father," I reply.  
Her eyes open wide and she looks at me. "Really?" she says. "Wait! Please don't go anywhere," she says and then she turns around and rushes inside.  
"Sweetheart, Snow White and the Prince are here. How do you feel about meeting my father?" I hear her calling out. Fredrick must be in the shower because she is talking quite loudly over the sound of the water.  
"I don't see why not?" I hear Fredrick reply cheerfully.  
"We should probably get dressed for this," she says and he laughs.  
"Wait," she says again and then she comes back outside "Who is my father?"  
"Judge Johnson," David replies brightly.  
Abigail looks surprised and maybe a little impressed. "Alright then!" she replies and then she walks back to the house.  
David shrugs. "Less intimidating than a king..." he whispers.  
I nod in full agreement but when Abigail and Frederick come back out, holding hands, smiling at each other I realize that it really wouldn't have mattered. If her father had been a dragon, Frederick wouldn't have hesitated to meet him if she'd asked.

We let Abigail and Frederick enter King Midas' office alone.  
Twenty minutes later the king emerges from his office holding the warrant we wanted in his hand.  
"I can't thank you enough," he says." I really can't." His eyes are red. He's obviously been crying.  
"So glad we could help,"I reply.  
"Thank you Snow," he says once more and then he looks at me intently. And I can tell by the way he looks at me that he might be mistaking his gratitude for other sort of feelings. "If you ever need anything else...anything at all..." he falters.  
I look away. I recognize the question in his eyes. I've always liked Midas in a paternal sort of way except now we are almost the same age.  
I can't hide the surprise on my face as I shake my head.  
"Forgive me," he sort of mumbles.  
No matter how nice he is, he has no right to do this, no right to do this in front of my husband. Then again we don't look like much of a match, him with his youthful looks and me with my more mature beauty.  
Did David catch all that? I wonder. Of course he did.  
All I have to do is side glance at David to notice the intense glare he is giving Midas.  
"We'll let you know if we need any more warrants," he replies firmly and then we both walk away.

"Was I always in competition with every royal in the Enchanted kingdom for your hand?" David asks.  
"No, no one dared come between us back then. This is all new and strange not to mention awkward," I reply.  
"A delightful development" he replies dryly.  
"Its because..."  
"What?"  
"Its because we don't exactly look like we belong together anymore..." I reply quietly.  
"Yes, we do, they are just not looking close enough," he replies lacing his fingers through mine and when I turn to look at him he winks at me.  
Charming, I think and I smile back.

Emma and sheriff Graham go to Regina's office first to execute the warrant, then they go her house. They tear the whole house apart while Regina stands in her front yard fuming, yelling at Midas on her cellphone who judging by her frustration is not even a little intimidated. Then she calls DA Spencer and he gets an earful as well.  
David and I are parked across the street watching closely.  
My phone beeps. I look at the screen. "Haven't found anything yet," Emma's text says. "Are you still in position?"  
"Yes we are!" I reply.  
After she is done yelling at people on the phone Regina gets in her car.  
"Alright, now we follow her," I say quietly. "She is going to lead us to wherever she has her secrets stashed."  
I let her car get to the end of the block before I turn our engine on. She drives around for a few blocks then she parks.  
"Are we at the cemetery?" David asks surprised.  
I grab my bow and arrows from the trunk, David gets his sword and we follow Regina slowly, quietly.  
"Just like old times,"I whisper.  
David points to the mausoleum that Regina just entered.  
"Ready?" he asks.  
I nock an arrow onto my bowstring and I nod.  
We walk inside, our weapons extended. There's a staircase that leads to a secret underground room.  
David points and he walks down the steps first.  
My heart is beating wildly as I follow him.  
Regina totally doesn't see us coming. She is in her vault holding a red pulsing heart in her hand.  
"Put the heart down slowly," David says quietly his sword almost touching her back. I have my arrow pointed right at her. She jumps and she turns around.  
"Snow White! And the Prince! So the search warrant was what? A distraction?" she asks as she places the heart down and slowly raises up her hands.  
"How many hearts do you have here?" David asks.  
"Most of them aren't even mine," she shrugs. "My mother was sort of a collector."  
"Alright, we'll be taking those back now," I reply.  
David stays with Regina down at he vault, his sword pointed at her while I carry the hearts upstairs. I call Ruby and she shows up right away with her delivery basket.  
Her eyes grow wide. "That's a lot of hearts!" she says.  
"I think this one is the Sheriff's. Are you sure you have a place to store them?" I ask.  
"As long as the health department doesn't check Granny's, they'll be safe," Ruby smiles.  
"You are not putting them in the freezer, are you?" I ask.  
"No, not in the freezer," she smiles.  
"This is temporary," I add."As soon as we find a way to put them back where they belong..."  
"I know," she replies."Don't worry, the hearts are safe with us."  
"I know!"  
We place the hearts in her basket carefully, then we cover them with a red and white gingham cloth napkin and Ruby heads back to Granny's while I head back downstairs.  
I go through all of the shelves and drawers and boxes in Regina's vault. There are a lot of ingredients for casting spells and making potions, most of them I do not recognize. I do not see anything else I feel that we should be confiscating.  
"Alright," I say, "you are free to go."  
David looks at me his sword still in place.  
Are you sure about this? his eyes ask me but he doesn't say it out loud.  
I hesitate. Am I sure? This is quite unprecedented. Do we have to let her go? Can we charge her for possession of stolen hearts? Organ harvesting? Do the real world rules apply to Storybrooke?  
"World without magic rules?" he asks.  
I'm really struggling here. I don't know. I shrug. You decide.  
He nods. "Alright," he says, "you are free to go for now. We are watching you, if you try anything...-" he says and she scoffs and stomps away.  
"Found them," I text Emma. "Meet us at Granny's."  
We walk up the stairs and look back at Regina's vault then we close the door behind us.

Ruby is in the back storage with Granny, Emma and Graham when we walk into Granny's. She lifts up one of the red hearts, the one Regina was holding when we found her.  
"I didn't realize fairytales where so morbid!" Emma states looking at the red glowing hearts in Ruby's basket.  
"I think this one is yours," Ruby tells Graham.  
"Can we test this somehow?" Graham asks.  
"Say something into the heart," I tell Ruby.  
She lifts the heart up to her lips and whispers "are you alright?"  
Graham jumps up and looks really tense.  
"Yes. This is the one, " he replies. "I felt like you were speaking inside my mind."  
Ruby holds the heart gently and hands it back to him. "Do you have a safe place to store it?" she asks. "Until we find a way to put it back in your chest?"  
"I could keep it in the safe at the police station," he replies. "Unless, would you mind holding onto it for me? With the rest of them, I mean."  
Ruby glances at him and then back at the heart. I see a faint blush rising in her cheeks. " I could keep it safe for you...I mean, it might be safer here. With the rest of them," she mumbles.  
"Right," Graham replies.  
"Well then," Granny says, "now that that's taken care of, get out of my storage room and let me get you some lasagna. Dinner's on me!" she adds and everybody laughs.  
We've taken over Granny's, eating and drinking and laughing.  
"Alright girls,you try the pie first" Granny pulls me and Ruby to the side. I sit on a booth next to Ruby and I take one big bite of blueberry pie.  
"That's amazing," I try to say, but my mouth is too full and Ruby laughs.  
I watch David across the room. Emma is quite animated saying something funny and he laughs then he places Henry in a headlock and ruffles his hair.  
Henry laughs and tries to get away. David looks at me and smiles.  
Our first mission was quite successful, I think so I smile back and raise my glass. Granny's door opens and in comes Abigail and Fredrick.  
"Snow!" Abigail says and walks up to me, Fredrick in tow. "How are you?" she asks.  
Fredrick places his am around her shoulder.  
"Hello! Are you having a party without us?" he asks.  
"Not exactly," I smile.  
"You were so right, you were so right about everything! I'm sorry I ever doubted you!" Abigail says and she looks so happy and so exited. "One minute we are complete strangers and then the next...we are so happy and we are talking about having a baby. It's too early right? But we have to seize the moment. We were apart for such a long time, right Snow? How long were we apart for?"  
I try to smile. "Twenty eight years," I say quietly.  
"That is such a long time, a whole lifetime really!" she starts again. "Do you think it's too early? Do you think it's a great plan or should we just slow down? Do you think we are being too impulsive?"  
My ears are ringing, my breath is catching and all I can hear is Abigail's joyful voice saying the word "baby" over and over again.  
I look at David and Emma laughing together, I look at Henry who puts money in the jukebox and I see Emma showing David one of her funny dance moves, trying to get him to dance. They look so happy, but the sight of my family celebrating isn't enough to stop the ringing I my ears or the intense feeling that somebody is pulling me under water, somebody is pulling me under water and I can't swim up, I can't swim up for air.  
"I think a baby is a wonderful idea," I smile, my voice slightly shaking. "You guys are going to be wonderful parents," I say and I mean it. I mean every word. Then I get up. I'm drowning, I'm drowning and I need to get some air. "Excuse me," I whisper and my eye catches David and Emma dancing and then David turns and looks at me because he knows. I don't know how he does it, but somehow, he knows.  
I smile at him reassuringly, and when he turns back to Emma I head out the door.  
Everything was fine, everything was great, better than great, until Abigail decided to bring up the baby she and Fredrick should have. Now that they are back together. Now that they are picking up where they left off. Because that's what people who love each other do. They love each other and they have babies, and children and my baby is in the diner, dancing with her father, except she is not a baby any more. She's a grown woman. And in that moment I see that I'm nowhere's near breaking the curse. Even if I wake everybody up and even if Regina is left powerless, the curse will never break, not for me. I head towards the dock, my eyes welling up. I'm not really watching where I'm going but for the first time I'm seeing things clearly.  
When I ate the poison apple I was asleep in my glass coffin. The whole world went on without me. That was it, my fate was sealed, except Charming loved me enough to find me and wake me up. He woke me up so fast I didn't miss anything. But now its the opposite. My whole world fell asleep without me. They stayed asleep in their Storybrooke glass coffin while I grew up without them. And I got to them but I was too late. And here I am now waking them up one by one so they can slowly get back to their lives. They can continue where they left of. They can go on loving and living and dreaming. Except for me. Everyone else but me. I grew up without them. I've lived a whole lifetime away from them. How long can I keep this up, I wonder. How long am I going to pretend that what David and I have is more than a May September romance? They are worth it, I think. My loved ones are worth it. They are alive and awake. Maybe after I wake everyone up I'll let David go. Maybe Midas and me wouldn't be such a bad fit. Maybe it's not the worst idea after all. He's a royal, just a few years older than me... The thought of loving anyone other than David seems awful and gut wrenching and makes me sick to my stomach but maybe it's the mature thing to do. And just as I think that, I feel pain, actual physical pain in my heart. And I know what the pain is for. The thought of actually letting David go for someone more age appropriate...I can't handle that pain.I can't handle the thought of us being apart. A few days earlier I could. I was ready to let go and walk away. Now it's too late. He is in my skin and in my blood and in my bones and in my veins. He is a part of my heart. I can't let go of him any more than I can let go of my heart or my lungs... Letting go of him will probably kill me. I can't leave him. I just can't. I gasp and I clasp my heart as my knees buckle.

"Snow!" I hear David yelling behind me and he runs and grabs hold of me as I'm about to hit the ground.  
"What's wrong? What's happening?" he says and he looks so worried.  
I shake my head and look away.  
"Can you walk?" he asks and then he lifts me up in his arms and carries me to the nearest bench.  
"I'm fine," I mumble."I can walk."  
He puts me down on the bench and he sits right next to me.  
He looks at me and he hesitates to ask because he doesn't want to give me a chance to say no. In the end he asks anyway.  
"Do you want to tell me what's going on?"  
I really don't but I can't, I can't hurt him by shutting him out. And I don't even know how or where to start from, so I just blurt out "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But its too late now. I couldn't let you go if I wanted to..." I cry.  
"What?" he asks all confused. "You not letting me go is actually a good thing. Why are you apologizing and what is going on with your heart?" he asks.  
"I was just thinking how eventually I should do the right thing. And let you go. And then my heart gave out. It's too late. We are too connected, I couldn't do the right thing if I wanted to..." I mumble.  
"Snow!" he says and he looks at me. "I thought we were past this. Why are you still thinking of leaving me?"  
I look at him and I don't know how to reply. Then I take a deep breath. "No, you should be leaving me. You really should let me go..." I whisper.  
"You are my wife," he replies. "That means something!"  
"It means that you are amazing and incredibly loyal and generous and kind, but that doesn't change the fact that you should let me go."  
"Generous? What are you talking about? No, Snow, it means I love you and I want to be with you and nobody else. Me and you. That's all. Us. You and me. Until the end of time."  
"Abigail and Fredrick are talking about having a baby. And I thought we were past this too, but the truth is that until you have a two year old crawl out of their bed and ran straight into your arms and look at you with their sleepy eyes and cuddle up to you and call you Daddy, I don't think you'll understand what you are giving up by staying together with me."  
"If I have to give you up to understand it, then I don't want to understand," he says firmly. "Snow, I don't just want to have children. I want to have them with you... I want feisty children with green eyes. And you already gave me that, we have Emma. She is amazing. She is more than anyone could wish for. And if it's not in the cards for us to raise a child together, I made my peace with that twenty eight years ago, back in the Enchanted Forest..."  
I shake my head."How can you not see this? Do the math David, when I'm seventy you will be forty two. When you are fifty two I'll be eighty. How can we possibly stay together?"  
"Because you love me and I love you. Because I choose you. Because I will always choose you. And if you turned a hundred and I'was still forty I'd still choose you!" he replies. "When have we ever done the math? You spent twenty eight years of your life looking for a husband who according to everyone in this world was a fairytale. You stormed a castle full of white knights and a tactical army with a handful of dwarves, a wolf and a couple of fairies to save me. Why start doing the math now?"  
"I had a lot of fairies on my side," I protest. "And now that I'm older maybe it's time for one of us to listen to reason!"  
"Lucky for us I'm young and immature and entirely immune to your calculations and your reasoning," he lets out a bitter laugh. "If you want me gone Snow you are going to have to throw me out," he adds. "Regina cast her curse to avenge her lover's death and get you to be alone. Is there a reason you are doing her work for her?"  
"Because I love you," I reply softly.  
"Good," he replies. "That's good. Can you love me enough to trust me when I say that I choose you? Can you do that?"  
And much to my surprise I nod. Because I do trust him. I trust his faith and his love more than I trust my logic and my math.  
"Good," he replies. "Now tell me that you are not running away."  
"I'm not running away" I whisper.  
"Tell me that you are not trying to break up with me."  
"I'm not," I whisper back.  
"Do you mean that?" he asks and I nod.  
"Good," he says then he lays on the bench and he places his head on my lap."Tell you what. If you want to break up with me it's alright, I'll just stick around for the rest of the day and at night I'll ask you if I can spend one last night with you... And in the morning I'll ask if you want to pretend to be married to me just one more day...and I'll do this day in and day out, forever until I'm a hundred and you are a hundred something... I'll wake up in the morning and say 'good morning Snow White. Can we please pretend to be married for one more day?' and I'll hold my breath until you say yes..." he whispers and he laces his fingers through mine and I play with his hair and I smile through my tears because this is the sweetest most beautiful story I've ever heard in my life.  
"Don't cry Snow White," he says quietly and I nod and wipe my eyes."I can see why living in a place like this, where people only believe what they can see with their eyes, one would loose faith. But you had enough faith to fight for me, find me and wake me up. And now I'll have faith, enough faith for the both of us," he says quietly and I nod, I nod through my tears...

* * *

So thank you for reading, thank you for being here, thank you for sharing your thoughts concerns and objections. I soooo appreciate when you take time to review.

 **baratta jennifer chapter 6 Your welcome and its true  
**  
Thank you Jennifer. **  
**emoji time **_へ_(‾◡◝ )**

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 6 It's alright. You totally made up for it in this chapter. I was just plying also. I love that it turned out to be the trolls directed from Rumple. Poor Snow always trying to save Regina. Maybe after the curse is broke she can continue to try and save her. I love how their relationship grew in the show. Yay, clock is ticking. Only a matter of time. Love how you are making the curse slowly break by Snow telling their storis and having them believe. It is so ingenious. Love it. You are a amazing!**

Thank you sooo much. Also no cliffhanger today either...

 **Guest chapter 6 I still hope Snow eventually becomes young again so they can grow old together instead of her dying 30 years before David. And so sweet baby Neal can be born.**

:)Hmmmm. I'm not ruling anything out.

 **Guest chapter 6 I like the way you develop Snowing as a team. You do this in your other stories but you don't write like it's some type of instant mix i.e just add water. Rumple is always so conflicted trying to use people for his own means. You really let both Regina and Gold take out the knives when describing Snowing. Ouch! By the way it is boytoy. The way you have Snow just chip away at the curse is innovative. If you read history perhaps Ulysses Trojan Horse was like the atom bomb. Both brought a swift end to a long battle but exacted great cost in human lives.**

First of all I fixed boytoy and I laughed so hard when I realized my mistake. Thank you SO much for pointing it out. And yes Snowing being a team is my favorite thing about them. Whether they are wedding planning or battling trolls they do it together and there's never a dull moment with those two.

 **Guest chapter 6 I think what Snow is doing is a great plan, and clearly very effective. It's maybe also a way for Snow herself to heal. She's been living in this world for over 28 years and probably not been able to use those memories because if she thought of all the people that were trapped and counting on her she wouldn't get anything done. A cute little mention of the farmhouse we saw the Charmings live in s6. The question is how will they solve this, telling memories will only go so far, maybe they'll rob Mr Golds shop next and give back all the items they used to own. I'm intrigued. The other question is how the Neal situation play out, if he shows up, Will he confess to Emma that he is Rumples son or just not fight for her? will Emma forgive him? I also love the mention that Snow and David were the perfect team and partners. "When will mama snow let you play with someone your own age" Reginas comments were cruel but they came with a certain amount of truth. Because even if they are in love, the fact that if you are 28 years older than your partner, will bring several uncertainties and problems.**

How will they solve this? I'm not quite there yet. But without spoiling anything I want to say that drama with Neal is coming up very soon...

 **Bwayrox chapter 6 I am really enjoying this story. I love the idea that Charming was able to hear Snow's voice and so in that way remained connected to her even during their separation. You are doing such a great job with the Snow's struggle over her age and the twenty eight years apart. The way you have her vacillate between moments of confidence in their love and moments of doubt create a more realistic character and relationship. Can't wait for more from you!**

Thank you. Yes Snow is struggling between her realistic tough self and her fairytale optimistic princess, with lots of tears in the mix. Can't blame her, she's been through a lot!

 **Austenphile chapter 6 Once again, your ability to capture Snow's emotions continues to amaze me. I could feel her deperstion and the terror that Charming had been hurt. But then she had underestimated him because she was not treating him like an equal or a partner and forgetting they were avtram who both do better together. I like their conversation that helped her to remember that. I like the strategy of giving people back their stories. I am interested to see how the curse breaks. And what happens with Neal and Rumple.  
**  
Thank you so much. It'd be hard not to be overprotective and treat a fairytale person like a partner in the real world right away...But it's Snow and Charming. They were made to overcome intense obstacles. Neal drama is coming up next :)


	8. Chapter 8

The sun is not yet out when I hear a soft knock on our door.  
Emma is in the hallway, already dressed. "Mom, something came up and I have to go. Can you wake up Henry and make sure he gets to school on time?"  
"Sure, honey. Is everything alright?"  
"I think so. I'll tell you everything when I get back," she says hurriedly and she disappears.  
"What's happening?" David mumbles.  
"Nothing much, you can sleep in if you like. I just have to go across the hall so Henry doesn't wake up alone," I say and I lean in to kiss him.  
He kisses me back then he mumbles "not a chance," and he gets up. I completely understand why someone would not be interested in sleeping in alone, after coming out of a twenty eight year coma. He follows me into Emma and Henry's room.  
"Do you want to wake him up?" I ask.  
David hesitates then he shakes he shakes Henry shoulder gently.  
"Wake up sleepyhead!" he whispers.  
Henry opens his eyes and smiles. "Grandpa? Grandma? What are you doing here?"  
"We are here to get you to school on time," I smile.  
Henry jumps out of bed and starts getting dressed right away. "Can you take me to the bus stop grandpa? And can you bring your sword? Because it'd be a lot easier for my friends to believe you were a prince if you brought your sword."  
"How about we put clean socks on first, before we decide what kind of weapons we'll take to the bus stop?" David replies pointing to Henry's really stinky socks and I laugh. I sit on a chair and lean my head back and watch as David helps Henry get ready. He gets him to brush his teeth, comb his hair, wash his face, he even gets him to take off his favorite hulk t-shirt and change to a cleaner shirt without much resistance.  
"Are we good? Are we missing anything?" David asks.  
"You look perfect!"I reply. "Let's go get breakfast at Granny's, and Henry don't forget your backpack."

Ruby is in a very good mood today. She passes out our coffees and hot chocolate and then she smiles at me.  
"What's on the agenda today Snow? Anything I can do to help?"  
"I'm not sure yet, but if we need help you'll be the first person we'll call."  
"Where's Emma? Did she have to work early?" Ruby asks.  
I hesitate. I don't think that Emma is at work.  
"No, I think my Dad called her." Henry is quick to reply.  
I raise my eyebrows and look at Henry. Of course he knows. He's really bright and very perceptive.  
David looks at me, his eyebrows raised.  
"I'm not sure what's going on," I shrug. "I'm sure she'll fill us in when she gets back."  
"My Dad calls and then there's a lot of arguing," Henry explains to David with a conspiratorial sort of look on his face. "Mark my words. My Dad was the one who called her."  
David looks at the boy warmly and nods. He's not quite sure how to reply, he hasn't even met Henry's Dad.  
"Don't worry Grandpa, they'll figure things out, they always do," Henry adds and I wonder if he's really trying to reassure himself.  
"My parents used to fight a lot too," David replies and I try to remain calm and not let my excitement show. I let them continue their conversation without interfering.I don't remember saying anything about his parents arguing, yet somehow he remembered this all on his own. David just remembered something.  
"And did they figure things out in the end?" Henry asks.  
"You could say that...my Dad passed away soon after" David replies hesitantly avoiding further details.  
And Henry nods and smiles. "I knew it!" he says."Can I have more pancakes?"

We wave goodbye as Henry climbs on the school bus. David places his arm around my shoulders and I hold on to his hand as we slowly head back to our room.  
"You remembered!" I say. "You remembered your parents!"  
David looks at me surprised then he smiles back. "I guess I did..."  
We climb up the stairs and unlock our door. Other than Emma and Henry we are the only guests staying at Granny's so I live the door cracked in case Emma comes back. I walk in and plop myself on our bed. David sits next to me.  
"Is Henry right?" David asks. "Do you think that Emma got a call form Neal?"  
"She sure acted like it. She took off without any explanation. If it was work she would have said 'I have to go to work early'"  
"I see. And how do we feel about Neal?" he asks.  
"How do we feel about Neal? Well, I don't know. I don't even know how I feel. When he drops everything to help Henry, when he walks out of work and stays by Henry's bedside because Henry has a fever I love him. I remember that he is sweet and kind and funny and thoughtful. Henry is his whole world. But when Emma is alone at night wondering how he can be so in tune with Henry's needs and so oblivious to hers then I want to grab him and...-" I shake my head questioning the wisdom of letting my sword yielding prince in, on my frequent urge to throttle our son in law. "I want to make him tell Emma whatever it is he is trying to hide. Because he is a good guy, but his behavior is so inconsistent. He is one big puzzle, that's what he is."  
David is listening very carefully. And somehow he manages to hear the one thing I don't say.  
"There's more to it, isn't there?" he asks softly.  
"There's one more thing," I hesitate. "Actually it's more of a question, and it isn't really about Neal...It's about Emma and me. It's the one question I should have asked Emma ten years ago, but I never did, because I was too afraid of the answer...I thought that Emma and I where really close, but then she ran off and lied to me and married Neal behind my back...so I wonder where did I go wrong? Why did she feel the need to run away and start her own family? What was wrong with the family she already had? Was I working too hard, not paying enough attention to her?" I ask and I look down."I used to lay awake at night and wonder if you'd be able to forgive me. Because taking care of Emma was the most important job I had to do and I feel like I might have failed Emma so badly," I say really quietly trying not to cry.  
"You were really worried about this...because I remember you saying that over and over..." he says quietly and he rubs my back. "You cried a lot after you told me that Emma got married..."  
"I did, didn't I? I never understood what happened. Emma and I were getting along great. She was always sweet and thoughtful and respectful. Don't get me wrong, she was feisty, but she always listened to me. But if I was a good mother she would have trusted me and told me she wanted to get married, right?" I ask, not really expecting a response. David's hands are still rubbing my back and he's about to say something when Emma walks in the room slowly, her eyes welling up, focused on me.  
I wonder just how much of our conversation she heard. I know that she is like me, used to listening in on people, used to watching people on stake outs, used to gathering evidence, so I have to assume she heard every word.  
Emma walks up to me and she says "You didn't do anything wrong Mom, you were the best Mom ever. I wasn't trying to run away from you. You had so much faith and you believed in fairytales and totally expected to reunite with Dad...its' just that I was seventeen and for a while I wanted to walk away from the fairytale and be normal, like everybody else. I was tired of the girls at school looking at me funny, thinking I was weird... I just wanted to fit in. And I didn't know how to tell you. So I tried to get way and distance myself from the fairytales for a while. Be like everybody else. And then I met Neal. And he believed me. That's why I married him. I was the one who actually proposed. Because when I met him I realized I didn't have to be normal. He loved me and he believed me and my fairytale past. I was no longer alone, I didn't need to choose, I could have both, him and the fairytales," she adds, and I'm tearing up now. Because it's such a relief to know that my daughter wasn't trying to run away from me. Her explanation is so simple and it makes perfect sense. I wish I had summoned up the courage to ask her much sooner.  
"I'm sorry Mom," Emma adds."I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't know you felt like you failed me. Because you really didn't. You know I haven't kept a single secret from you since then..."  
And I smile through my tears.  
"That's my girl,"I mumble. "So? How did it go? You just met Neal didn't you?".  
Emma nods then she pulls out her phone. "I recorded the whole thing. Like I said, no secrets Mom!"  
"You recorded your conversation?" I ask incredulously.  
"Of course. This is serious Mom. And I didn't want to have to repeat it, or miss anything."  
It must be hard being married to a police officer I realize. We want proof and records and we do not hesitate to record our own conversations so we can dissect them for evidence. But there's no time to contemplate this further because Emma's already pushed play.  
"Wait, are you sure you want us to listen to this? Can't you just tell us what Neal said?" I ask because I feel like I'm intruding in something incredibly personal.  
"It's all there,"Emma says and she looks really tense as she begins to pace in the room. I haven't seen Emma this tense since Neal move out of their apartment. I glance at David who looks just as lost as I feel.

 _"What's going on Neal? What's with the secrecy? Why are we meeting so early and why are we meeting at the town line?" Emma's voice sounds quite impatient in the recording._  
 _"Because I can't go in there," Neal hesitates._  
 _"Can't go in where?"_  
 _"Storybrooke."_  
 _"But I wanted you to meet my father. And Henry is in there. You have to come!" Emma pleads._  
 _"I can't...-"_  
 _"Why not?"_  
 _Neal remains silent._  
 _"Alright, if you are not coming in, then tell me what I'm doing here," Emma trying to sound gentle, trying to negotiate._  
 _"I wanted to talk to you."_  
 _"So talk..."_  
 _"Not like this...How are you?"_  
 _"Not great."_  
 _"What's wrong?"_  
 _"My husband isn't making any sense. And on top of that he is stalling, not giving me any real information."_  
 _"Fair enough. I deserve that. How is Henry?"_  
 _"Henry is really happy bonding with his grandfather. He is very happy. Wondering when you are going to visit!"_  
 _Neal sighs._ _"Tell him I miss him!"_  
 _"No! You tell him. Better yet, instead of missing him, come in and visit him."_  
 _"I told you I can't."_  
 _"This is ridiculous. I'm going to leave. You can come or not come, it's up to you. I'm done," Emma sounds frustrated, tired, done. She's had enough of the Neal puzzle. She's out.  
"Emma wait please..." I hear Neal's voice, practically, begging.  
"Wait for what?" Emma's not entirely immune to the pleading tone in his voice.  
"Let me explain." I can hear Neal breathing heavily, his reluctance to explain, battling with his fear that if he takes too long she will walk away. He has to explain. He needs to explain. He realizes he is about to loose Emma forever.  
"You were right. I was in the Enchanted forest once. A whole other lifetime ago"  
"How did you get there?" Emma's curiosity is winning over her urge to walk away.  
"I was born there."  
"Oh, how did you get here?"  
"A magic bean."  
"Those work?" she asks.  
"Yes. You 'd be amazed. They make portals..."  
"No way! Why didn't you tell me?"  
"It sounds cool now, but it wasn't at the time. It was...it was hard. It was more of a desperate last chance, an attempt to make things right."  
"An attempt to make what right?"  
"Save my father."  
"Save your father? Was your father in danger?"  
" No, Yes. Sort of."  
"You are going to have to do better than those half answers Neal!" Emma is loosing her patience.  
"My mother left us when I was seven. She met a guy at a tavern and walked away from us, my Dad and her weren't getting along for a long time...so it was my father and I. And he was sweet, and fun, he'd play with me for hours...until I was about to turn thirteen. The problem with turning thirteen is that you were deemed old enough to join the ogre war...""  
"At thirteen? Thirteen year olds in a war against monsters? What were they thinking?" Emma sounds shocked.  
"They were desperate. The war against the ogres had been going on forever...anyway my father was desperate to keep me home and he got tricked by the Dark One.."  
"The Dark One?"  
"The title of the man who had almost unlimited dark power and magic. My father took on his powers and became the Dark One and then he single-handedly ended the ogre war to save me..."  
_I turn to look at David. Did he just say the dark One? What is happening? I try to catch his eyes but he is staring at Emma instead. Reading her, trying to assess if she is hurt. I look at Emma who is still pacing. _  
"He did that? For you?" Emma in the recording asks.  
"He did...but...-"  
"But what? That's sort of incredible. There is a catch isn't there?"  
Neal sighs. "All magic comes with a price. And I paid the price, over and over as his power changed him. He sought out people who hurt him or mocked him in the past, he attacked anyone and everyone who he thought might threaten me. His power was raw and intense. No one could stand up to him, and no one would talk to me. They were terrified because even a accidental move against me would end up in my father killing them for it. I was alone. And I wanted to fit in. I wanted to escape the magic. I was desperate to bring my father back. So I got a hold of a magic bean, and my father promised that he loved me more, more than his new powers, more than his magic. So we were going to use the bean to escape to the land without magic together. Escape from his newfound powers. I put all my hope in that. I wanted my father back, the guy he was before the power changed him."  
"What happened?" Emma asks and I can hear fear and compassion in her voice.  
"We were ready to go, I was scared but I was ready to set my father free. I threw the bean on the ground, I leaped...and my father...he looked at me and he balked. He changed his mind. He let me cross the realms alone. He left me..."  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Emma asks, her voice softer, more forgiving, and I think I can hear a small sob stuck in her throat.  
"There's more. I was alone. Lost, afraid, I made some friends and spent some time in Neverland then I was back in New York. __I met you, and you were just like me. You ran away from the Enchanted Forest to escape magic just like I did. I didn't tell you everything right away because I wasn't ready to relive it, but I was going to tell you. Emma, I was going to tell you everything. You said that you planned on finding and rescuing your father and I wanted to help you. Help you find him or come to terms with the fact that Enchanted Forest fathers couldn't get saved...I mean, what are the chances that we would meet? Clearly we were meant to be together. I understood that. You said Snow White and Prince Charming were your parents and I believed you, but your parents were royals after my time. I didn't realize how big their kingdom was, how important they were. You have to understand Emma there are a lot of kingdoms in the Enchanted Forest and a lot of them are a little bigger than what we would consider a regular town. And then I met your mother and she was so sweet, so strong and so determined. That night I was going to tell you both everything. Until I saw her wall, the one where she had pinned all her research on, her maps, her pictures, her missing people searches and the red color yarn she used to connect the dots..."  
_ _"So? So what if she had a research wall?"  
_ _"She was dead serious about getting back there. To the Enchanted forest. Or find Enchanted Forest residents living among us. I knew that if anyone could accomplish that that was your mother, that's how determined she was. And when I saw a map of her kingdom...I panicked. Because her kingdom is the most important kingdom in the Enchanted Forest, Emma. The largest one. So here I am, the son of the dark one married to the heir of the largest kingdom in the Enchanted Forest... How was I supposed to explain that?"  
_ _"With your mouth," Emma states firmly without a hint of compassion. "Using words. You know, talking. Just like you are doing now."  
_ _"You don't understand. I just made myself next in line for the most important kingdom in the Enchanted Forest. I am the son of the Dark one. How could I tell you that? How could I tell her that? It looks like I weaseled myself into position...and I didn't even ask your mom for your hand in marriage...we eloped...I mean...Emma do you not understand how bad that looked?"_

 _"I don't know. You keep saying the dark one like its supposed to mean something to me, but it doesn't."_  
 _"Your mother calls him Rumpelstiltskin."_  
 _"Rumpelstiltskin is your father?"_  
 _"I'm afraid so."_  
 _"I met him! He calls himself Mr Gold, he owns the coolest pawnshop and he is quite dangerous...he almost succeeded in kidnapping my parents."_  
 _"You met him? He is here?" Neal asks and I can her the fear and the longing in his voice. "He kidnapped your parents? Of course he did...are they alright?"_  
 _"They are fine. Apparently my dad has super fighting skills or something..."_  
 _"Good," Neal sounds relieved. "Well then, you know what he's like, I need you to stay as far away from my father as possible...keep Henry safe. In fact you should get out of Storybrooke as soon as possible."_  
 _"I can't, my father is still stuck there. And I can't leave him..."_  
 _"That's what is so special about you Emma," I hear the tears in his voice,"you don't walk away..."_  
 _There is a large silence that follows. I suspect that Neal might have tried to kiss her and that didn't go well._  
 _"I don't know Neal I don't understand. How could you think that pulling back and keeping me at arms length for the last ten years was better than telling me the truth, risking the chance of me thinking you were after my throne?" Emma asks calmly and I know its the calm before storm._  
 _Neal recognizes the signs and he wisely remains silent._  
 _Then he tries. "Your kingdom is really important. And I...-"_  
 _"Look around you!" Emma yells. "There are no kingdom's here! No thrones! I'm a police officer, you work at the library! Why didn't you tell me?"_  
 _And I can tell that she is probably crying..._  
 _"You thought I didn't want to tell you? You thought it didn't kill me to keep this form you?"_  
 _"It killed you? Because you seem fine to me. And you broke my heart over and over. I tried so hard to be understanding, to treat you better, to be kind, to give you space..."_  
 _"Emma you didn't need to do that. You didn't do anything wrong!"_  
 _"I know that now!" she yells at the top of her lungs. "You did! You did everything wrong. You didn't even have the decency to give me a clean break, you kept going back and forth, you left me dangling there, alone but not quite free...how could you?"_  
 _"Emma, I wanted to set you free but I couldn't. I couldn't leave you. You are the only thing in my life that I...you are the only one who stayed...you didn't walk away...you..."_  
 _"You are right. I didn't leave you...but you did leave me. Technically you are still here but you left me in all the ways that matter... I thought you'd come back...but you didn't!"_  
 _"Emma don't say that...Please...!" he begs and I know that he's definitely crying now. Sobbing is more like it._  
 _"Why not? It's the truth isn't it?"  
_ And I can see why the little boy inside him, the one who got abandoned by his mother and his dark father would latch on to Emma who loves so fiercely and doesn't hold back. Emma who is intense and loyal, just like her father. And I can see why the fear of abandonment would keep Neal from telling her the truth. I understand. I see it now. The whole picture. Just like my research wall back home, the red yarn is connecting the dots and the full picture of Neal's puzzle is emerging. But I also understand that it is completely up to Emma to decide where to go from here, it's up to her to decide if she's had enough or if she wants to fight for more, if she wants to salvage the love that is clearly still there.  
Emma grabs her phone and pauses the recording.  
"The rest is not really relevant... you already heard the important parts. About the dark one being my father in law. I'm not sure what that means..."  
"Are you alright?" I ask.  
"I'm fine Mom," she replies firmly and I believe her. I want to ask her what she is going to do about Neal but I decide that she's already let me in on so much. I'll wait and let her tell me when she is ready.  
"I could have a few words with him if you like..." David offers and I'm not entirely sure if he means actual words or if he is offering to make Neal feel some pain.  
Emma smiles and leans her head on his shoulder. Clearly those two understand each other...  
I reach for her hand and I squeeze and we stay silent for a while, drawing strength from each other. I look at David, his arm on Emma's shoulder, holding her quietly and I'm so grateful he is here. I'm so grateful we are all in this together, that Emma isn't keeping this from us.  
Then Emma breaks the silence.  
"What does that mean?" Emma asks again.  
I look at her and I'm not sure what to say.  
Out of all the scenarios I could have conjured up in my mind, the dark one being Neal's father is not one I could have ever imagined. What does it mean?  
David shrugs. "Do you love him?"  
Emma hesitates for a brief second and then she nods.  
"And does he love you?"  
Emma nods her eyes welling up. "I wondered about that for the longest time, but he really does."  
"And is he in any way interested in using dark magic to take over the world?" David asks and Emma laughs shaking her head.  
"Then it means nothing when it comes to him and you," David states simply and I don't know why, but I feel my heart swell up with love and pride. I love, love his enchanted forest, fairytale prince logic.  
"Are you sure?" Emma asks.  
David shrugs. "My adopted father is the terrible king George..."  
"What do you think Mom?" Emma asks.  
I have all sorts of things I want to voice, concerns, fears, questions, strategies I need to reassess. But Emma is looking at me, her bright green eyes shining and hopeful and I know that David's is the right approach. I look at David and smile "I'm the stepdaughter of the evil queen..." I add and then we look at each other and out of nowhere I start laughing. I'm laughing really hard and Emma and David stare at me, wondering if I'm starting to loose my mind. Then David cracks a smile. And he starts laughing too. We are sitting on our bed, laughing, I have tears streaming down my face and then I catch my breath I say "there's a couple more villains we are not yet related to, but if we really put our minds to it...we could make it happen...maybe the witch of the forbidden forest can join our family..."  
"She's dead," David replies and I turn to face him.  
"You remember!" I reply feeling quite astonished.  
Again he looks surprised, "I guess I do..."  
Emma shakes her head. "Well, I'm glad you guys are having fun, but I'm going to head to work, I'm already late" she says then she exits the room.  
"Emma wait!" I yell and I ran after her.  
She turns around and looks at me smiling.  
"Emma, I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me. Please forgive my little outburst in there...Are you really alright?"  
"It's okay mom. That was pretty funny. I'm fine, in fact I'm relieved."  
"Relieved?"  
"This whole time I thought Neal might be having an affair or I don't know, a double life of sorts..." she says quietly and I pull her in my arms.  
"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry, things are so complicated..."  
Emma smiles. "Not that complicated," she smiles. "It's okay mom, now let me go, I really need to get to work."  
So I smile, I smooth out her shirt I crumpled with my hug and I back up.  
"I love you, so much!" I say my heart swelling with love and pride.  
"Love you too Mom," she says as she rushes out.  
I walk back in our bedroom and sit back on the bed.  
"Is she alright?" he asks.  
"I think so." Then I glance at David and I can't help it, I start laughing again. "We never did stand a chance, did we?" I ask.  
"No, we didn't. And yet here we are...and have you seen our daughter? She is absolutely amazing..." he replies smiling.  
I nod. "Our daughter. She's nothing sort of a miracle isn't she?" I smile and he nods.  
"So in the grand scheme of things I think we are winning," he says.  
I look at his eyes, bright and hopeful, his confident smile, I listen to his words, strong and earnest and I can't help it, I just love him so much. I pull him in closer and kiss him.  
When I open my eyes to look at him, he looks a bit light headed.  
"You are here," I explain. "That's nothing sort of a miracle."  
He kisses me back and we spend the next half hour making out like two teenagers on the back bench of a city park, then he pulls back and says "I was thinking about Rumpelstiltskin..."  
"You are thinking about Rumpelstiltskin while kissing me?" I tease and he smirks.  
"Not quite, but if you can be serious for a brief moment...-" he tries again and the rest of his words get lost because I kiss him again.  
His next two attempts get drowned in my kisses then I pull back and I try my hardest to maintain a serious face.  
"Alright, I'm listening now. You were saying... that you were kissing me and thinking of villains and then..." I laugh as he pins me down on the bed and he kisses my neck...  
"I'm not telling you anything..." he teases and I give him my most innocent of smiles.  
"What if I promise to behave?"  
"It's much too late for that," he responds and it's hard to contain my excitement.  
"But shouldn't we be doing something important today? Like breaking curses or saving the world..."  
"Yeah, you should have thought of that before you started tempting me with those lips," he says kissing me, "and those eyes and that smile..." he teases and I laugh as I pretend to try to writhe away from his grip. I giggle and laugh and I realize that I'm feeling so good. Too good. I haven't felt this happy and playful since forever, since I was a princess in the Enchanted Forest, laying under the trees with my husband, months before the threat of the dark curse. My heart is beating fast, my skin is burning and I really don't feel a day older than twenty eight.  
He releases my right hand and that's when I catch him of guard. I seize the opportunity to tickle him then push him down and now I'm laying on top of him, still laughing.  
"Didn't you just promise to behave?" he whispers and I smile.  
"That was before you tempted me with those lips, and those eyes and those young hard...-"his lips are on mine so fast my brain is spinning and my body is floating in a sea of unspeakable lightness and joy.

Much later he's laying in bed all relaxed, his head resting on his arm and I'm smiling making my fingers walk on his chest.  
"So, are you going to tell me?"  
"Tell you what?"  
"You were thinking about Rumpelstiltskin and then..."  
He catches my fingers with his hand, kisses my finger tips and then he turns to look at me.  
"Here is what I think. What if we were to use my memory loss to our advantage?"  
"Intriguing. How would we do that?"  
"Well, he already gave us a way in...-"  
"Keep talking...-"  
We make a plan, just like old times, and then I wish him luck and he walks away and I stay in the room. It's hard to watch him walk away and place himself in harm's way. I feel like he's taking my heart with him.  
"Charming!" I call out and rush after him.  
He turns around, a bright smile because I used the name again...  
"Be careful," I whisper and I pull him in my arms.  
He pulls back and he's about to say that everything will be alright. Then he recognizes the blind panic in my eyes. The same fear that kept him unable to stay in bed and sleep in this morning. We've been apart for too long.  
So he pulls me back in and he kisses me. "I promise, I will be careful and I'll see you in a couple of hours," he states reassuringly.  
I nod and I let him walk away, unable to fight this hallow feeling in my stomach.  
Everything is going to be fine, I try to reassure my self and I fist my hands to keep them from shaking.

I decide that I'm going to spend the next two hours at Granny's diner. I get a call by Emma about an hour later. She sounds upset.  
"Mom, we need to talk now!"  
I tell her to meet me at Granny's but she says she wants to go somewhere more private, so I wait for her back in my room.  
"Mom! I walked by Gold's pawnshop and I overheard Dad in the back asking what it would take for him to get his memories back. I think he might make a deal with him! I thought he said he remembered enough! Did he lie to us? What's going on!" Emma storms in my room her eyes open, she's practically yelling.  
"Did you ask him?"  
"No! I panicked and I walked out and then I hid and let him walk right past me...I came straight to you."  
"Don't you think you owe it to him to ask him first, before assuming the worst?"  
"I suppose. Where is he anyway?"  
"I'm on my way to meet him. Would you like to come along?"  
"Sure," Emma mumbles.  
I grab my purse and I follow her to her yellow bug.  
"Where to?"she asks.  
"We are meeting at the farmhouse at the edge of town."  
"Why are you meeting all the way out there?" Emma asks and when I hesitate to reply she adds "I don't understand how are you being so calm about this."  
And I don't know what to reply to my beautiful daughter. Clearly I need to let Emma in on our plan. I don't want to say anything before I know exactly what David learned. I really don't want to add to her burdens today of all days.  
"Honey," I start and then I pause."You should know that your father would never do anything...to jeopardize our relationship or your relationship."  
Emma looks at me. "You already know what he's up to, don't you?" she asks.  
I sigh. "I do."  
"Oh, thank goodness!"Emma breathes out a sigh of relief. "Because I don't think I can take any more surprises today," she says.  
She turns the car on and we drive through the Storybrooke streets, out in the country roads.  
And now that she's relieved that her father didn't betray us she goes back to the subject of Neal.  
"I don't get Neal, Mom. I really don't. I want to forgive him, but I don't understand. How could he be so dense, and not realize how much he hurt me all these years? He thought he was protecting me, when telling me the truth would have been so much better..."  
"You are right. I understand what you are saying. And I'm not saying that you should just take him back, but Emma the truth is that we all do foolish things sometimes, thinking that we are acting in the best interest of the people we love...when we are actually hurting them..."  
"Are you sure about that? Has Dad ever done anything like that...?" Emma asks.  
"I have definitely done that quite recently...-"I reply quietly.  
"What did you do?"  
I hesitate. There's no use hiding this. Especially now that she is struggling.  
"I've tried to breakup with him twice, since he woke up..."  
"Seriously? What? Mom! Why?" Emma is glaring at me shocked.  
And I smile because I know Emma will definitely take David's side when I explain my thinking. Because that's the beautiful kind of person that she is.  
"He is thirty years old."  
"So?"  
"He is thirty and I'm fifty eight."  
"Mom! You were cursed. You spent your whole life looking for him..."  
"I did. And I want him to be happy."  
"And he doesn't seem happy to you?"  
"He seems happy."  
"Then why would you...? I don't understand..."  
"Like I said, we do foolish things thinking we know better because we love somebody..."  
Emma shakes her head, looks at me and then she takes a deep breath."  
"Alright Mom. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Dad when I first met him. Well, not exactly the same but close. If you hurt my father, if you break up with him because of your insecure 'I'm too old to make you happy' nonsense, I will never speak to you again" she states firmly and then she punctuates her words with a dramatic exit from her car since we've already arrived at the farmhouse.  
David, who is already here rushes to meet me and he is very surprised when Emma gives him a very intense hug then she kisses his cheek and states "You and me are going to stick together because they are not making any sense!" she points at me, then she walks into the farmhouse.  
"What was that all about?" David walks back to me looking at the dumbfounded look on my face as Emma storms off.  
"Your daughter just threatened to never speak to me again if I try to walk away from you again..."  
"Did she really?" he says and he looks at Emma's direction with his bright David smile.  
"She really did."  
He chuckles then he pulls me in for a kiss.  
"How did it go?" I ask.  
"I'm not sure...I don't feel like I got enough information and he is definitely not saying anything more. I walked into his store, I told him I was considering his proposition and asked him what would I have to do to get my memories back. And the answer was just so strange...I didn't know where to go from there, so I didn't commit to anything other than thinking about it. Rumpelstiltskin wants me to go into the mines under the town and fight a dragon."  
"What? No! A dragon under Storybrooke? In the mines? Is he serious?"  
"He seemed dead serious. He said that I have to retrieve what I hid in the belly of the beast. That's where you come in. I can't remember. What did I hide in the belly of the beast?"  
"True love," I reply trying to recall exactly what David told me after he woke me up from my sleeping curse."He bottled up true love and asked you to keep it safe, by placing it inside a dragon. So you did. And after that, he enchanted your ring so you could find me..."  
"So now what, I slay the dragon and get back his potion?"  
"It's not as simple as that. The dragon...it wasn't just any dragon. It was Maleficent," I explain and his eyes get wider.  
"No!" he says and he sits down."Maleficent?"  
"I'm afraid so. What exactly did he say?"  
David looks at me and hesitates.  
"Just tell me," I ask quietly.  
"He said we could break the curse, get my memories back and get your youth back, if I did this..."  
I can feel my heart beat faster. My youth back. I can be young again, I can have more children, I can pick up where I left off, if we do this one thing that we both know we cannot do.  
"You can't go trough with this," I whisper quietly.  
"I know," he replies softly, terrified of hurting me with his words.  
"So we are back at square one," I say trying to keep my voice from shaking. "We don't know what he really wants. We know what he is after but we don't know what he plans to do with it..."  
"I know how much this means to you, and if it wasn't coldblooded murder...-" he starts saying but I place my finger on his lips. I nod, trying not to cry. He kisses the tip of my finger then he pulls me in his arms.  
"We will break the curse. We will..." he states firmly but for the first time I see a hint of doubt in his eyes and I close my eyes and bury my head in his chest and I think of my awful non magical world who has the power to make someone like my prince doubt...I can't let this happen. I can't let the real world break him. Not him. Not now, not ever.  
"We will break the curse," I reply firmly and he opens his eyes and looks at me almost surprised. "We will!" I state firmly. "And if I stay like this forever, its alright because we are stronger than this. Stronger than the numbers and the age difference and...-" my voice trails off, because it hurts to say this out loud, but I mean it, I mean every word.  
He looks at me, his eyes bright and shining full of hope one more time. "There you are," he whispers and I realize what he means.  
For the first time I am back to being Snow White again, I am back to being the woman he married, the woman who had hope and faith and love, the woman who doubted at times but always chose hope when it mattered. Even though he doesn't exactly remember that part of me, his soul recognizes mine, his heart sees me. He can tell the difference. And I realize that instead of fretting about the obvious superficial things like my age difference, or my hair, it was the changes inside my heart that should have concerned me the most. The loss of my faith, and my hope. My jaded heart that would doubt and question his love and try to walk away from him, was the one change that truly mattered.  
"I'm here," I whisper and our lips meet again and I can feel the difference, the change in the air, the mood shift, our bond getting stronger, our connection practically burning inside me, our love, our hope, our dreams blossoming one more time. Because I believe. I believe. I'm Snow White. I used to be a police officer in this land without magic, and even though evidence and proof and logic are very important to me, above all I am a princess, from the Enchanted Forest and I am capable of so much more than the eye can see. I am capable of love and hope that transcends time and space and circumstance. I am Snow White.  
"I missed you," he whispers and I hold him even tighter.

When Emma walks back out of the farmhouse she sees us kissing in the driveway. Ordinarily she would complain, but in the light of what I just confessed to her she doesn't say anything, she just smiles and stands back waiting for us to finish, but she does cough a couple of times.  
David pulls back. His eyes are misty. He looks relieved. And I realize the toll that it took, for him to have to hold us together this past few days, until I was strong enough to believe again. The effort it took to keep convincing me to stay with him and fight. The strength it took to keep me here, connected, without hardly any memories to draw from. So I squeeze his hand and pull in closer to him almost disappearing in his arms to let him know how much I appreciate the unwavering faith he showed these last few days. He looks at me, touches my cheek and there's a hint of surprise in his face, like he can't quite believe what he is seeing. And he seems ready to say something, but then he just smiles instead. He turns to Emma and he explains our plan and exactly how the meeting with Rumpelstiltskin went. Emma's eyes open wide then she looks at both of us.  
"We'll figure this out," she smiles and I nod.  
"Of course we will," I reply."That's what we do. That's what we were meant to do." I see Emma smiling at me and I feel David squeezing my hand.  
"Henry would say 'it's our destiny'" Emma quips and we all laugh."And Mom, now that we finally know where Maleficent is, shouldn't we contact Lilly and let her know we found her mother?"

* * *

Hi! Thank you for reading. You guys were very quiet this week and I missed your opinions. Thank you for replying and reviewing. I really appreciate it, so speak up!

 **baratta jennifer chapter 7 . Apr 28 Your welcome  
**  
Hi Jennifer!Thanks for being here.

（‐＾▽＾‐）

 **Guest chapter 7 I might be crying as I write this. It's a magical experience reading your chapters. It should make no sense to have a love as strong as this but it when it comes to Snowing everything makes sense. The last part was so beautiful I really feel like Snow, tears everywhere. It hurts my heart whenever someone calls Snow Charming's mom or "the old one". This situation is really not fair to either of them. The fact that Snow was in her own curse just growing up while everyone she knew was stuck in time and now when Snow has lived her life everyone else is waking up and is still youthful and happy. I'm glad that they are breaking the curse by bit but it's cruel that it'll never end for Snow because she'll always be reminded of the things she lost. All these mentions about how their love is meant to be makes my heart swoon. Snowing really was that couple nobody would ever dare to come between them, and now age and time has. The selfie part was cute tho! A quote that reminds me of this fic is "We deserve a soft epilogue my dear, we are good people and we have suffered enough". I don't know how you'll fix this but I know you will and I will thank you but for now I'm scared.  
**  
Thank you soooo much. I might have cried when I wrote it. I love your quote...we deserve a soft epilogue...that 's so very true!

 **Guest chapter 7 You write the reunions so beautifully. I adore the way you have David ask for one more day. It reveals such a deep understanding of love. Of course he wants children with her, he loves her so completely. It is so cute the way you have all the older men hit on Snow. I enjoy this perspective. Are you subtly hinting at Snow reverting to her youth? I want not spoilers and I can't wait to see where you will take us next. You have an incredible muse.**

Thank you! Snow is the fairest of them all, so it's fair to assume that men would be hitting on her if they thought she were available, irregardless of her age...You so get things...anyway, I'm going to walk away before I spoil anything.

 **Guest chapter 7 Great work on this! Really excited to what's next. I believe in Snow that she could really break this curse. I love how you write the romance, it's very beautiful! Hope Snow grows younger so she can be with her family.**

Thank you! I think that we all hope for that, especially Snow...


	9. Chapter 9

The Storybrooke clock tower says it is 6:20 when David and I walk into the library. His sword is strapped on his back, I'm wearing my bow and my quiver. We timed this so that we are here a couple of hours before closing time. Our goal is to assess exactly what the tunnels and mines look like underneath and see if we can locate Maleficent,because I really want to call Lilly and tell her that I have good news. It's the least I can do. We do not get far. Because right upfront, rearranging the books on the first isle is Neal Cassidy.  
"Neal!" I can't hide my surprise. "What are you doing here?"  
Neal's eyes shoot up and he gives me his tentative half smile.  
"Hello. I...I kind of work here."  
"You work here? In Storybrooke? Since when?"  
Neal shifts uncomfortably from one leg to the other as he looks at David standing beside me, his gaze firmly fixed on Neal's face.  
Neal notes David's sword and he swallows a couple of times.  
"Since this morning," he replies hesitantly.  
"Does Emma know?"  
Neal shakes his head. And then I realize that introductions are in order.  
"Forgive me," I reply, "David this is Neal Cassidy, Henry's father, Neil this is David, my husband, Emma's father."  
Neil notes that I didn't introduce him as Emma's husband but the truth is she hasn't told me what she plans on doing next, so I can't say if he is her husband still. It's not for me to say.  
David holds Neal's gaze, a serious look on his face, measuring him up, and then he offers Neal his hand.  
Neal seems relieved that David is not reaching for his sword. He shakes David's hand and he offers a smile.  
"Hello sir, how are you doing?" he mumbles and I manage to conceal my smirk because, really, they look exactly the same age.  
David nods still looking at Neal firmly.  
"What are you doing here?" I ask again and Neal sighs.  
"I promised Emma no more secrets, so here goes... I came in this morning, after Emma and I talked, I met with the Mayor, or the Evil Queen, whatever you are calling her these days and I offered the information on who I am, in exchange for her permission to stay in Storybrooke. She said I could work here."  
"You did what?" I ask incredulously."Why?"  
"So I can stay in Storybrooke."  
"What?" I shake my head completely confused. "You are going to have to explain that."  
Neal nods. "I've been around magic long enough to understand how Storybrooke works. Storybrooke is like a magnet, a safe city. It keeps the people who the curse brought over here and it repels everybody else. If a stranger were to drive through it they'd soon forget all about it or decide they wanted to take another road. They couldn't stay here, they could only drive through."  
"But we were able to come here and stay," I reply.  
"You were able to stay because your husband was like a homing beacon, calling you here, maybe not even aware he was doing it. You and Emma and Henry are able to stay here, because he invited you."  
I turn and look at David, my eyes welling up and I reach for his hand.  
"Now, Emma can't invite me, assuming that she'd even want to, because she is not part of the original curse," Neal continues."So I had to get permission from the Evil Queen herself. I also rented a loft a few blocks away...-"  
"And what did you have to give her in return? To Regina, I mean," I interrupt and I'm terrified of what his answer might be.  
"Myself, or rather who I am...my identity. Knowing who the Dark One's son is, is quite a bargaining chip to have at her disposal. She can choose to use it against my father or not...I didn't tell her my connection to Emma or you guys."  
"Neal!" I say and I don't know where to go from here. "Emma is going to probably kill you, and kiss you then kill you again," I exclaim rather loudly and he smiles.  
"I deserve it," he replies. "The killing part. Being here, helping Emma break the curse, it's the right thing to do. It's what I should have been doing all along."  
"But to place yourself at the mercy of the Evil Queen, how is that a good idea?" I ask.  
"The Evil Queen's goal for Storybrooke is to make you suffer. We already know her goal. But my father's goal for being here is a mystery. Because I do not believe even for a minute that my father was brought here against his will by the Evil Queen. If he is here, it's because he means to be here and that's terrifying. I can't have Emma or you facing him alone. What is he really up to? When we find out, you can use me to block him, or stop him...from whatever plans he has in store..."  
"Like a hostage? Or a pawn? I don't think so! We can't do that!"  
"Call it whatever you like, I'm here to help," he insists and I sigh.  
"And if Emma asks you to leave?"  
Neal looks down and he shrugs.  
"I will stay out of her way, out of her life, if she asks me to, but I can't actually leave."  
"What? Why?" I ask and I think I already know the answer.  
"You and Emma and Henry can come and go as you please because of who invited you. The nature of your invitation. Your husband doesn't want you trapped here. But I'm here because the Evil Queen allowed me to be here. And she made it quite clear that I'm going to need her permission to leave. So unless the curse is broken..."  
"Neal!" I say and my voice sounds much softer now. How can I scold him now that I understand the nature of his sacrifice..."Well if it was a grand gesture you were after you totally succeeded," I state and he laughs.  
"It's a grand gesture only if you tell her," he replies quietly.  
"No, no, no, you are not keeping this from her." I reply. "Didn't you just say that there will be no more secrets?"  
Neal nods. "I guess you are right. But it wasn't a grand gesture I was after, it was more of a...-" he struggles for the right word.  
"A kamikaze move?" I offer and he laughs.  
"She's worth it," he replies.  
I look at David whose expression has softened up and he is looking at Neal warmly.  
"Whatever Emma's decision is, we are not going to let anyone hurt you, whether it's the Evil Queen or your father, " David replies and Neal looks at him, his eyes wide open, because an offer of protection is way more than he dared to hope for.  
"Thank you sir," Neal mumbles once more, visibly moved this time.  
"It's David," he replies and I smile.  
"Neal, we are here today because we need to take a look at the mines underneath the library, any idea where we should start to look?"  
"There's a strange door here on the left," Neal points.  
We walk there but the door is locked.  
"Hold on," Neal says and he reaches for two small wires from his pocket. With a few swift moves the door is unlocked and open, and we see that we are standing in front of an old elevator shaft.  
"I guess we do this,"he says and he rotates an old lever attached to the wall and the elevator platform comes up.  
"You picked the lock," I say and I try to mask the surprise in my voice. Neal has clearly a lot more skills than he originally led me to believe.  
He shrugs as if he know what I'm thinking.  
"I spent some time in Neverland," he replies as if this explains everything.  
"Good to know," I reply.  
"Do you need back up? Do you need me to come with you?" he asks and he walks over to the check out counter and he pulls out a cutlass sword.  
I did not see that coming at all. I stare at him, my eyes open wide.  
"We need you to stay up here and guard the entry," David replies.  
"Sure thing, sir," Neal replies.  
I smile while David sighs."David," he states again and Neal nods.  
"I need you to call the police station and ask the new Deputy to check the library for bugs. I want to make sure that it's alright to talk here freely," I add.  
"I thought Emma was the new Deputy," Neal says.  
"Yes, she is also incredibly good at checking rooms for bugs and hidden listening devices."  
I can see him hesitating.  
"I really need this done Neal. What was your plan, lurking in the library until she happened to come in here?"  
Neal smiles."No, I guess not. I just feel like I've put her through enough for today..."  
"Yes, I'm not going to argue with you there... but we've already said too much without securing the room. I really need this done."  
"If we are not back in three hours please call Ruby, at Granny's diner, she will know what to do," David adds.  
I hand Neal Ruby's phone number and a spool of red thread.  
"Ready?" David asks and I smile because he always used to ask that, whenever we were to embark on one of our adventures together.  
I kiss him instead of replying and he smiles.  
Neal looks away and we step on the elevator.  
"Can you lower us down?" I ask.  
"Yes. And I'll be here to pull you back up," he replies.  
"Thank you, Neal."  
"It's nice to finally meet you Neal," David says. And as I hear David say it, I realize that its very unlikely that Neal Cassidy is his real name.  
"Baelfire, my real name is Baelfire" he says quietly, "but please, call me Neal."  
I nod. I am Snow White the stepdaughter of the Evil Queen. I understand the heavy burden that comes with certain names.  
"Alright, Neal," David smiles warmly and just like that we are being lowered down, down into the darkness of the Storybrooke mines.  
David reaches for my hand in the darkness. I squeeze his hand in reply then I pull out two flashlights from my jacket pocket and hand one to him.  
David stares at the flashlight as I push the button and turn the light on.  
He stares at the light for a brief moment then he shrugs. I wonder if its too many new things at once, but he seems to be handling things fine.  
We step out of the elevator and right away there are three paths we can take. If the Storybrooke mines are anything like the dwarf mines that Grumpy and Happy gave me a tour once, then I know we need all the help we can get. I take the spool of thread and tie to a nail by the elevator door.  
"Which way do you think?" I ask and David points to the one on the left. The left path has a distinct scent of smoke so now I know, not only that he is right but that he actually remembers how to track dragons. He pulls out his knife and he carefully marks the wall. I follow him closely unspooling the thread so we can find our way back. Just as I remember, the mines are a complicated labyrinth and it makes me wonder if they were specificaly built to keep people from ever coming out again.  
"So, remind me again what we did to Maleficent?" David asks quietly.  
I swallow hard. I mentioned this briefly to him the other day when I was telling him our story but not in a lot of detail. It was not our proudest moment, but the truth is the truth and there's no use hiding from it.  
"Maleficent asked for our help to deal with the dark curse. Of course she wanted our help on her terms, and after she murdered a couple of guards in the western kingdom right before our eyes and we were powerless to stop her, we wanted out of that alliance. But then she told us that I was pregnant. And that our child had likely as great potential for evil as she had for good. You were fine with this information, you said that we would raise our child to know better, we'd raise her to be kind and good...but I...I wanted to do more. So when we met a mysterious man in the Infinite Forest who offered to remove Emma's potential for darkness I jumped at the chance. He said he needed a vessel to contain the darkness. We stole Maleficent's egg, thinking she was laying a baby dragon. He did the ritual, removed Emma's potential for darkness and then without warning he released the egg into a portal all the way to this land, except in the last minute the egg cracked and we could see a baby's hand inside..."  
David turns around and looks at me, shocked, eyes wide open.  
"We couldn't fix this. The transfer was irreversible. I was devastated, totally horrified, but you said there'd be a chance to earn forgiveness, that redemption was possible, so we moved on. When I moved here with Emma, once I got acclimated I looked for Maleficent's daughter. I found her in New York. Her name is Lilly. I befriended her foster parents and we occasionally would spend our weekends together. Emma and Lilly would play for hours and that's when I told her the truth, slowly...At first like telling her fairytales. And when she turned seventeen I told her the whole truth, and begged for her forgiveness. I showed her all my research and told her as soon as I find her mother I'd let her know..."  
"And did she forgive you?"  
"She didn't go as far as to say that she forgave me but she said she always knew there was a mother out there that loved her and that I might have accidentally saved her from a dark curse... Then she started doing research as well. She'd occasionally send me updates of her work"  
"How?"  
"She is a computer genius. She never admitted it but Emma believes that she is a rather famous hacker...she has been doing research, looking for Enchanted forest residents, just like I was doing..."  
David nods then he points to some strange claw marks on the wall. "Dragon claws," he says quietly and we continue on our path. We walk further, the paths get windier and more complex, and even darker. This is taking way too long, way longer than I anticipated. I calculate that we've been here for about two and a half hours and the mines stretch on ahead, dark and uninviting.  
"We told Neal we'd be back in three hours, maybe we should head back and try again first thing in the morning. We don't want to worry anybody by staying down here too long, especially Henry and Emma."  
"Alright,"David replies and we turn around.  
We follow the markings he made on the walls and respool my thread. We walk and walk and walk but somehow the road seems twice as long. And when we get to where I tied my thread to the wall we are surprised to see, the thread is still there, tied to the nail on the wall, but there is no elevator, no elevator shaft. There is nothing, just a dark chamber, a small cot against the wall. A pair of shackles, a bow of water and some bread on the ground.  
"Careful, it's a trap," David whispers and he points up. There is a metal gate wired to drop down and trap inside this chamber whoever makes the mistake of touching the trip wire. And I just touched the tripwire with my left foot.  
David grabs me by the waist and he pulls me back as fast as he can. We hear the metal gate crushing down behind us. We run through the tunnels and when he's satisfied that we are far enough he stops running. I'm panting, leaning against the wall.  
"Did you see that?" he asks. "The place we ended up is nothing like the place where we started," he says.  
"That was a close call," I whisper breathless both from running but also the fear of what almost happened.  
"You saved me, that's twice in one week!" I whisper.  
"Are you keeping score?" he smiles and I laugh.  
"Maybe! How could this happen?"  
"Magic, her replies. "I think I've seen this sort of thing before. I walked in a small house once, and it looked so small from the outside, but on the inside it was this large mansion and once I was inside I couldn't get out."  
"A magical trap,"I whisper, "but how, this is a world without magic!"  
"I don't know."  
I lean against the wall and I close my eyes."Rumpelstiltskin," I say quietly. "He either wants you or both of us out of the picture, but why?"  
And then I realize exactly what's happening. "He said Emma would break the curse on her twenty eight birthday. Emma, not us. He wants us as leverage, so he can force Emma to break the curse for him. We played right into his hand!"  
"I'm sorry!" David replies. "This was my plan, my idea."  
"No, this isn't your fault at all. Approaching Rumpelstiltskin was your idea. Finding Maleficent so we can contact Lilly was mine because I feel so guilty about what we did to her. I was so eager to reunite her with Lilly, I altered your plan. If you are looking for someone to blame this one is on me..."  
"I'm not looking for some one to blame," David shakes his head.  
I pull out my cellphone. Of course there's no reception here.  
"I just don't want Ruby coming down here getting trapped here as well, or Emma. I wish we could find our way back to Emma, I don't want her worried..."  
"I know," he replies. "Did you see that cot? A jail cell in the dark," he adds and I can feel him shuddering. "Rumpelstiltskin was probably expecting me to go back today and accept his deal. He expected me to come down here alone, without telling you..."  
"Well he clearly doesn't understands us very well, does he?" I reply and David pulls me closer and kisses my forehead. Then he looks at me.  
"What is it?" I ask.  
"If this mine tunnel is a pocket full of magic, like our fairytale world then I wonder if...-maybe we can take advantage of it." He thinks for a moment then he looks at me, cups my face with his fingers and whispers "kiss me!"  
I'm not quite sure what he is talking about but this is not an invitation I intend to turn down. I close my eyes and I kiss him twice then I pull back.  
"I love you Charming!"  
He studies my face, then he smiles.  
"Kiss me again," he whispers.  
I kiss him, again and again then I pull back and I see him looking at me intently.  
"What's going on?" I whisper smiling.  
"I'm not sure,"he replies, "tell me you'll stay with me, tell me you love me, tell me..."  
David has never been the one to ask for a lot of words but I'm not going to question what prompted this. I certainly put him through a lot this last few days. He deserves this, he deserves to know exactly what's in my heart.  
"I love you Charming, and I'll stay with you. I believe in us, and I'm not letting anything come between us ever again, not even myself or my doubts. We are together and we are staying together, we are fighting for us because that's what we do. Because us fighting together is all we've ever done, all that's ever made sense, and if we need to fight in order to be together, that is all I ever want to do. And if we end up stuck in these tunnels, with no way out, if we end up dying here, I'm going to die smiling, happy because I got to be with you..." I say and I feel the truth of my words deep inside me as tears stream down my face. "I missed you Charming, I missed you so much, there are no words that can explain how much I missed you...-"  
"Snow!" he whispers and he leans in to kiss me and I feel his cheeks dump against my skin, as he pulls me in closer, lifting me off the ground. I have this intense tingling sensation all over my body and my skin, as if we are suspended together, flying or dancing, fighting against all odds, and I don't know whether we are winning or loosing, dying or being reborn, but I know we are loving each other through it all. And I'm crying and kissing him, sobbing even though I feel inexplicably happy, giddy even. It makes no sense for me to be this happy when we are lost in the mines but I don't care, I realize that life making sense is no longer important to me. This is a fairytale after all. I feel happy and light and I open my eyes to see David staring at me again.  
"What is it?"I whisper and he just smiles tears streaming down his face.  
"David?" I try again and he shakes his head and I understand that he is too overwhelmed to reply so I wait.  
He pulls my cellphone out from by pocket, then he fumbles with it long enough until he gets the camera working.  
"Snow, look" is all he says, and I look at the screen to see my thirty year old self staring back at me. I sob loudly then I touch my face. This can't be real, this can't be happening. My skin is smoother, my wrinkles are gone, my eyes are sparkling and my cheeks are glowing. I have no words. I have no words to express all I'm feeling. So I pull him in closer and I kiss him instead.  
"You!" I say when I finally find my voice. "How did you do this? How did you know...-"  
"I didn't," he replies."It's been happening for a while, you wake up looking younger every day. And yesterday when you kissed me and said you were Snow White, you looked instantly younger, but I know how much this means to you. I didn't want to say anything until I was absolutely sure. I had this idea that if I could get you to tell me that you believed in us we could use this pocket of magic to speed up the process..."  
"It worked!" I whisper.  
"It did!"  
"You found me," I reply.  
"You found me," he smiles. "Hey, I'm just being selfish here, I don't want you to have an excuse to walk away from me," he says and I laugh. And as I look at my thirty eight year old hands again I gasp because I realize that my ring has started glowing.  
 _"My mother's ring. It led me back to you!"_  
"David! My ring is glowing again!"  
He looks at me his eyes wide open."Emma!" he says."You wished we could find Emma. What if it leads us to her? It should show us the way out..."  
We follow the ring and it takes a couple of tries until we figure out which direction makes it glow brighter. We follow the ring's glow as it glows brighter through unmarked tunnels and corridors and after about ten minutes of us rushing through, we can see a small light int the distance.  
"There!"David yells and we run towards the light as fast as we can.  
We rush to the light and we walk through a small cave opening right at the beach, next to the Storybrooke docks. I look for my phone. There's reception finally so I call Emma immediately.  
"We are alright!" I say as soon as she picks up.  
"Good to know." Emma replies casually at the end of the line. "I believe you. I have no idea why you feel the need to tell me this, so perhaps you can start at the beginning... What's going on Mom? I just got a call that I'm needed at the library."  
"What time is it?" I ask.  
"It's 6:30"she replies.  
"It's only 6:30? Alright, well, it's fine, forget that I called, I'll tell you everything tonight "I reply.  
"A time distortion!"I tell David as soon as I'm off the phone. "We were only gone for ten minutes, Emma didn't even notice we were gone."  
I look at my hands. If its a time distortion, maybe my age transformation didn't last once I got out of the mines.  
"Do I still look younger?" I whisper, and I hold my breath.  
"You look young and beautiful and not a day older than...I don't even know, you look really young!" David replies and I let out a sigh of relief. He pulls me closer and I start crying again, thinking of what this means for us, for him, for our family, How I'm going to get a second chance. He holds me tighter until I'm done crying and then he says "We should go to the library to tell Neal to lock up the elevator and not let anyone down there."  
So we rush back to Neal who is surprised to see us back so soon.  
David explains what happened and Neal hurries to lock back the elevator shaft, then he looks at my transformation, his eyes full of questions but mercifully he says nothing.  
We are getting ready to leave when Emma walks in. But because we are behind the first isle she doesn't notice us or Neal at first.  
"Hello? Anybody here? I'm going to be honest with you, no one's ever asked me to sweep a library for bugs before, I mean why would anybody bug the library?" she asks and then Neal steps out and turns around.  
"Your Mom thought it was a good idea, and I know better than to argue with her," he replies.  
"Neal! What are you doing here?"she asks all surprised and by the softness in her voice I know she is not done with him yet.  
"I work here now," he replies offering a smile.  
Emma walks up to him hesitantly.  
"I thought you couldn't come in here..." she says quietly.  
"I found a way," he replies.  
"How?" Emma frowns. "Neal! What did you do?"  
Neal looks down for brief second.  
"You said no more secrets. What did you do?" she asks firmly and I can feel the thunderstorm coming.  
"I made a deal with Regina. I told her who my father was in exchange for her permission to stay."  
"What? Why? Who knows how she is going to use that information... Why would you do that?" Emma asks, but she doesn't sound angry. Her voice is soft, inquiring. Even though she already knows the answer she needs to hear him say it.  
"Because walking away from you and keeping secrets from you was the biggest mistake of my life. I want to stay here. To help you break the curse. Whatever it takes. No expectations. I know I really hurt you and I don't expect you to ever forgive me...-" he is still talking when Emma walks closer and hugs him so tight I'm surprised he is still breathing.  
Then she kisses him and adds "I'm still mad at you, you know."  
"Oh, I know," Neal mumbles and Emma laughs.  
David tugs on my hand and we sneak out of the library.  
Somehow the evening air seems sweeter, the lights look brighter and there is so many things that I want to do with my fresh younger body, I don't even know where to start. I feel hungry, I feel thirsty, I want to run, or jump or do something intense and dangerous, something reckless.  
"I feel like I should be running through the forest, or hiking up a mountain or jumping from a cliff to into the ocean...-" I tell David.  
"I'm not sure where a cliff overlooking the ocean is located," he replies laughing. "How about...-," he smirks playfully and desn't finish the sentence but he does pull me in the alley behind the library, lifts me up against the wall and starts kissing me.  
I close my eyes and let my self feel his heart beating next to mine, my skin burning on contact, I let my young body feel what it means to be young and in love and together again. I smile in between kisses, but then my cell phone rings.  
I desperately want to ignore it but I have to check. We are in a town under a curse, there's no telling what might be going on.  
"It's Emma," I whisper and he nods and waits.  
I put her on speaker phone.  
"Hey Mom, are you busy? I need to...actually Neal and I need to do some talking and I need some time... Can you go meet Henry at Granny's and make sure he has something other than french fries for dinner and can he stay with you tonight?"  
I give David an apologetic look. "Of course honey," I reply."We are on grandparent duty tonight," I sigh as I put the phone away and he laughs at the mildly frustrated look on my face.  
"I love grandparent duty," he replies and I squeeze his hand.  
"I love it too. But I would have loved it better if it started a couple of hours from now," I mumble frowning and he laughs again.  
I hold him back for one last kiss, then I straighten up my shirt and my hair and I take a few breaths, trying to calm my thirty year old body down.

We walk together into Granny's diner. In all the excitement I don't even think about how people are going to react to the new younger me. I walk in the diner confidently, David right behind me, still holding my hand. I scan the room to locate Henry and then I pause, because everybody is looking at me, their eyes wide open, some of them audibly gasping.  
Grumpy who is sitting at the corner booth, is the first one to get up and place his hand on his heart, then Ruby emerges from the store room, she gasps and then she places her hand on her heart. Dr Hopper, Geppetto, Happy and Sneazy, the Huntsman, Granny, a couple of fairies, and several fairytale children are all standing up now. My message has been spreading a lot faster than I anticipated. I look around blinking back my tears as everybody stands and places their hand on their hearts. And I remember, I remember the day we led our army victorious back to king George's castle, our castle now, once we won the final battle against king George, once we captured the Evil Queen, how everybody on the streets stopped and placed their hand on their hearts declaring their allegiance, because they understood who we were and what we stood for, they understood that our kingdom was going to be different, build on a foundation of kindness, love and sacrifice. They understood that they needn't fear the evil queen any longer. I remember how we walked into our council room and as we took our spots around the large wooden table for the first time, our court, our friends who we now considered family, stood up around us, their hands on their hearts. I remember how I raised my hand to my chest and I looked at Charming his hand to his heart, as we pledged to care and protect and take care of our people, our two kingdoms now united. We had no doubt we were going to change the world.  
I blink my memories away along with my tears, as I slowly face my friends at Granny's and I see all of them placing their hands on their hearts and I'm overwhelmed. They are placing their trust in us, in me, once more even though I was the one that stayed awake while they stayed asleep and unaware for the past twenty eight years. They trust me even though it took me twenty eight years to find them.  
I turn around to face David, to tell him how I don't feel like I'm worthy or even deserving of this kind of trust and I find him nodding, smiling at me, his hand raised to his heart. My eyes are streaming with tears as I slowly lift up my hand and place it on my chest to feel my heart beating loudly and then someone, probably Grumpy starts clapping first and then the diner erupts in applause.  
"Snow! You are back!" Grumpy yells.  
"You are going to have to show me how you did the deaging trick," Granny quips and everybody laughs.  
"We should have a toast!" David says and Granny passes out drinks to everybody.  
"To my beautiful, beautiful wife," David smiles raising his glass, "who remembers enough to keep us all going and fighting against the darkness, and to all our Enchanted Forest friends, may we all wake up, and remember!"  
Everybody raises their glass, smiling and drinking, and I look at our people around us. Our people, the ones I pledged to cherish and protect. Even though they, just like David, are all still very much cursed, they remember glimpses and fragments of things, not the whole picture, yet they are here, they believe me and I feel so grateful for their love and their trust in me. Henry raises his soda and mumbles "to another successful operation" and I walk over to him and give him a big hug.  
Ruby rushes over to me.  
"Snow! You look so different! How?" she asks and I explain what happened at the Storybrooke mines.  
Henry who's been looking at everyone, eyes open wide pulls Ruby's sleeve and whispers "tell her, tell her our plan!"  
Ruby pulls up a chair and sits next to us.  
"I was thinking how there are a bunch of hearts in my storage room, next to the turnips and I thought that it would be great to at least figure out who the owner of each heart is. Regina said that a lot of hearts belonged to her mother, so maybe they do not even correspond with anybody."  
"It's worth a try," I reply. "What do you have in mind?"  
"Operation Goblin Shark two," Henry smiles and Ruby ruffles up his hair.  
"Can't we call it 'lone wolf', or 'lost heart' or something more relevant?" she asks.  
"Of course not. That'd be too obvious," Henry explains quiet seriously and I laugh out loud.  
David smiles at me from the other corner of the room where he is talking to Grumpy.  
Ruby signals us to follow her to the counter.  
"Experiment number one," she smiles. There is a single heart laying in a bowl by the register covered by a gingham cloth napkin. Ruby makes sure nobody else is watching, she raises the heart to her lips and she whispers "Come to Granny's and order today's special. Potato soup!"  
Then she puts the heart back in the bowl and covers it up.  
I'm not sure how I feel about this plan. It's genius really but we are playing with people's hearts. Literally.  
Ten minutes later a woman in a nun's habit walks in.  
"I'd like today's special. It's potato soup right?"  
"Clam chowder," Ruby points to the blackboard sign next to her.  
"That's strange" the nun whispers. I was certain it'd be potato soup!"  
"Her name is Dena and I believe she was a fairy," I say once the woman is gone. Ruby writes the name on a paper bag and places the heart carefully inside.  
"Who is next? " she asks. She lifts up the hearts one by one, she invites them to the diner and asks them to order food that is not in the menu, then we spend the next two hours cataloging the hearts and their owners. The next two hearts belong to a pirate and a farmer, the next one goes unclaimed, and the next one belongs to a girl I recognize as the princess of a nearby small kingdom, one we rarely had dealings with.  
We are down to the last heart but I'm feeling emotionally exhausted. If Ruby had her memories she wouldn't need my help, but she does need me now.  
"Shouldn't we be heading to our room?"David asks."It's getting late and Henry looks tired."  
"I'm not tired," Henry tries to argue then as if on cue he lets out a big yawn.  
"Just one last heart then we'll go," I reply leaning on the counter. David hugs me from the back and leans in to take a better look at the heart.  
Ruby lifts up the last heart and gives it instructions.  
"Come to Granny's and ask for chocolate pudding with pink sprinkles," she smiles and I try not to cringe. Her method is genius and is obviously working but I still feel uneasy about it. Nothing happens for the longest time so Ruby places the heart gently in a paper bag and tags it as unclaimed.  
"I think we are done here," she smiles.  
"Bed time!" David says cheerfully and Henry groans. Once the hearts are safely back in Granny's storage room, I hug Red and Granny goodnight.  
We head back to our room. I know that Henry will do anything David asks so I let him take over and make sure that Henry showers and brushes his teeth. Once Henry is ready he lays down on the couch in our room. He is asleep the moment his head hits the pillow. I sit on our bed and David pulls me in closer.  
"Emma is not coming here tonight, is she?" he asks.  
"I don't think so," I reply. "Neal said he rented a loft nearby..."  
"Do you suppose it's the loft with no walls?" David smirks and I laugh.  
"Probably. Storybrooke didn't exactly have a lot of housing options. I guess that leaves us the farm," I reply.  
"Good," David mumbles then he lays down. I lay next to him and turn off the light. I'm smiling in the dark, my hand resting on his chest, our fingers intertwined and I can feel his heart beating, my own heart overflowing with joy and gratitude. I'm almost asleep but I can sense that something is off so I open my eyes instead. I catch David looking at me in the dark, with an expression I can't quite read.  
"Is something wrong?" I whisper and when he doesn't reply right away I lift up my head to get a better look at him.  
"David, what's wrong?" I whisper again and that's when he kisses me in the dark.  
"Nothing is wrong," he whispers back, "I just, I can't look away."  
I smile and lean in to kiss his cheek. He squeezes my hand tighter.  
"Sometimes I'm afraid that this is all part of a beautiful dream, or part of a story you whispered to me in the dark and if I let myself fall asleep I won't wake up...and I'll be alone again in the darkness," he confesses.  
"I'd be happy to pinch you if you like,"I smirk and he laughs. So I lean my head on my hand, and I pull him in closer, his face right next to my heart.  
"This is real," I whisper. "As real as any fairytale you'll ever hear. It's all real, I promise, and when you wake up, I'll be right here, by your side" I say again and again and I kiss his eyes and his forehead and his cheeks. "And we will not be separated again, we are going to start over, live our lives together, grow old together, because that's what we do. That's who we are..."  
"Keep talking," he whispers.  
So I tell him my story as I play with his hair. "Once upon a time there was a bandit princess who was lost in the woods. Lost, not because she didn't know where she was, but because her life had taken so many twists and turns that it had left her head spinning, looking for answers, utterly confused about who she was and what she was meant to be doing. Until one day she met a shepherd who'd been trapped into impersonating a prince and even though they seemed to not get along at first in reality she fell madly, desperately in love with him..." I start my story.  
"That's a strange beginning, don't you think?" he smiles, half teasing, his eyes now closed.  
"Yes, but out of strange beginnings come the most extraordinary fairytales," I reply. "The most extraordinary characters. Kind of like the prince in my story...you see the princess didn't know what to do because the prince was betrothed to somebody else...But there was something about him, maybe the fact that he was genuinely interested in her, or the fact that he was wiling to put his life at risk to save hers even after she pushed him in the river, as she looked at him, for the first time she dared to imagine how good it would be if they were allowed to be together, and as he held out his arm to help her cross over a particularly dangerous fallen log, her heart skipped a couple of beats and that's when she knew she was finally home..." I whisper and I keep talking until he lays asleep in my arms, breathing evenly. I stay alone in the dark repeating again and again, "this is real," because I can hardly believe it myself, "this is real, this is real, this is real" my eyes welling up with tears.  
And then I have the strangest feeling I can't explain. I need to get up and go to Granny's diner.  
I shake David lightly. "I'll step out for a minute, I'll be right back," I whisper.  
"I'll come with you," he mumbles, still very much asleep.  
"No, you stay here, with Henry. Grandparent duty, remember? I'll be right back."  
"Don't take too long," he whispers.  
I throw my jacket on, I put my shoes on in a hurry and I rush down the stairs. The streets are dark, there's nobody out on the road. I rush to Granny's diner and I wonder what I'm doing out here in the dark alone, what is this strange premonition that led me out here.  
And that's when I see her.  
Regina is standing in front of the diner staring at the closed sign hanging from the locked door.  
She turns to look at me.  
"Snow?" she asks. "My, my, aren't you looking different today. What are you doing up this late? Trouble in paradise?" and then without waiting for a response she tilts her head and she says."Well, Granny's is closed, any idea where I can get some pudding with pink sprinkles at this time of night?"

* * *

Hi friends! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me. Speak up! Tell me your thoughts!

 **Guest chapter 8 I like the way you make the Charming family a team. You write so well that you change my perspective on characters. I despised Neal because he was so weak he could not go find Emma after the curse broke. He chose to stay away and let himself be drawn to Tamara. You have written him well. The show had so much clumsy writing. I like the way you seem to be undoing the curse slowly. Wonder if there will be a surprise baby since Snowing seem to be frequently getting busy. One plot point I wonder about is if they told Rumple about his son why would he need majic? Well, it is Rumple so I guess he always wants the upper hand.**

Thank you! A surprise baby would be a very cool way to discover that Snow is in fact younger than her actual age! Yes if Rumple knew who Neal was and that he was already in SB he probably wouldn't need magic-assuming that he could in fact stay away from it. If they told him. It doesn't look like anyone trusts him to tell him who Neal is yet, especially since he keeps trying to kidnap the Charmings.

 **Guest chapter 8 Another great emotional chapter! And we finally meet Neal. That read about that emotional roller coaster. I feel so bad for both of them. I get Neal's fear being raised by the dark one can't be easy, he let his fear control everything and because of it he now has lost his family. I'm more on Emma's side of things, I hope they can figure it out. Also welcome back Snow White! We have missed you. I really felt what rumple said. About if they get the potion not only will David get his memories back but Snow will be younger. I think that Snow might sneak away and do something on her own to get that potion without harming maleficent. A possible solution is a traditional TLK. If We think Snow goes to Regina and says that she'll eat the apple again / Emma and Henry will leave. Charming can do the TLK and show that he doesn't need his memories to love her once and for all. And by the TLK, which can break any curse. Breaks Snows own curse and turns her back. It's complicated and quite a stretch but I just want everyone to be happy.**

Thank you so much! Snow was going to turn herself in to Regina but David stopped her. If he'd let her go that'd be a cool time to reintroduce the apple...I like your idea of TLK as a solution to everything. In fact one of my jokes while watching the show was that if I were a fairytale character my first solution to any kind of problem would be to grab the person closest to me and start kissing them. It could solve everything! You don't know! :)

 **Austenphile chapter 7 Sorry I got behind again in reviewing. I wish I could make an eloquent review to tell you how much I love this story, but, alas, I am a reader and not a writer. I think you do a wonderful job tackling all the emotions of everyone, especially Snow. I had to lol at all the older royal men flirting with her. Though I could see how that would anger David. And is Snow slowly getting younger?**

 **Austenphile chapter 8 So I have never cared one way or another about Emma's romances, and still do not, but it was a nice way to explain how Emma and Neal would have happened had Snow been in her life and how he would react given he wanted to avoid his father. I loved the line "there's a couple more villains we are not yet related to, but if we really put our minds to it...we could make it happen." because they really ended up being related to everyone but Cruella. Lol.**

Thank you sooo much. Yes Snow was slowly getting younger and now she is young.  
Emma had some cool love interests but Emma was so beautiful and smart and down to earth and amazing, I sometimes felt like she was too good for anyone they paired her up with.

(Just a passing thought people, please don't attack me.)

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 7 Great chapter. I so love how Charming keeps fighting for Snow when she tries to be cynical.**

Yes! Me too! Thank you.

 **Guest chapter 8 . This was a very bittersweet chapter. Great work nonetheless! I like how you unpacked Emma's emotions towards Neal's betrayal, you totally did them justice. Also Emma and Snow knows Lilly? Interesting. Rumples deal is a tough one. I'm intrigued how they'll handle the situation.**

Thank you! I explained the Lilly situation a little better. Rumple's deals are always problematic with sneaky sneaky loopholes that work in his favor...


	10. Chapter 10

Eighteen years earlier...

"Mary Margaret, look!" Paul says and points to a wad of cash stuck behind a couch cushion. He looks at me and gets ready to put it in his pocket."Didn't you say you were sort on rent money this month?" he asks.  
This is a very successful drug bust. We found half a pound of cocaine and already bagged all the evidence and the drug money and arrested Johnny B, a drug dealer that had evaded the Boston PD for years. All in all, a very successful day for me and Paul my partner of just two months. Paul who is both hotheaded and know it all yet somehow very quiet and observant at crime scenes.  
I take a step back. I shake my head.  
"No!" I state firmly, shocked that he'd even suggest this.  
"Mary Margaret you are sort on rent this month. Nobody has to know, I won't tell anyone. You need this."  
I shake my head.  
"Come on, you have to help yourself!"  
"Pay my rent with stolen drug money?" I don't think so!" I reply and he looks at me carefully.  
"Come on Mary Margaret. Everyone knows we don't get paid enough. It's about survival!"  
"Well, maybe I don't want to just survive Paul. Now hand me the money," I reply and I bag it and add a note to the evidence log.  
He stares at me.  
"It's the honorable thing to do," I reply and I feel it, the slight tinge in my heart. Every time I say something that sounds like something Charming could have said I feel that pain.  
"The honorable thing to do, is to not loose your home this month, Mary Margaret,"he argues."You have a child to consider. If you won't break the rules for yourself then break the rules for her! When fate drops answers at your feet you just gotta take them. You could have taken it. Nobody would know!"  
"I would know!" I reply.  
"Fine, I was just trying to help you out," he mumbles.."I see where the nickname comes from," he smirks.  
"What nickname?" I ask.  
"Oh, you don't know?"he asks hesitantly.  
"Nope!" I cross my hands, frown and wait.  
"Snow White. Internal Affairs calls you Snow White. They say you do everything by the book."  
I feel like someone just threw a bucket of cold water on my face. I breath in and try not to overreact. Snow White, my real name from the fairytale world, now my nickname in the real world.  
When was the last time anyone called me that? Emma is ten now, so ten years ago. I close my eyes and remember Charming's whisper of a kiss on my lips as he helped me in the wardrobe, the kiss he gave our baby, and then said "find me" to Emma and "I love you Snow White," using my full name one last time, instead of saying goodbye, maybe trying to hold on to me for a second longer. Then he'd shut the wooden doors of the magical wardrobe, and fought three black knights to give me time to escape. Three knights or maybe more. I don't know how many, I wasn't there. I left him behind. I left him to face the black knights alone. I blink the memory away and I shake my head. It's a cruel twist of fate when my Enchanted Forest name is my real world nickname, reminding me not only of of what I lost, but also what I'm fighting for. And I realize that I've come a long way from my bandit days, because I'm no longer interested in just surviving... I no longer believe that the ends justify the means.  
 _"It seemed like the honorable thing to do..."  
_ I wonder if Charming realized how much he changed me, how much he helped me grow. Love will do that to you. He probably had no idea how his words would both haunt me and guide me in this land without magic. The honorable thing to do.  
"Whatever, they can call me whatever they like," I shrug.  
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost" Paul asks.  
"Let's just get back to the station," I mumble because I am done discussing this, so I step out of the room.

I put Emma to sleep and I sit on my lounge chair, looking at the fire in my fireplace. Still sort on rent. Still haunted by the memories my nickname evoked. Snow White. There's a soft knock on my door.  
The landlord is not going to come bang on my door till tomorrow. Who could be at this hour, I wonder as I head to my door.  
I'm barefoot, wearing an oversized t-shirt and shorts. I shrug. I check through the peephole. It's Paul. That's certainly unusual. We are friendly enough but there are lines we don't cross, showing up at each other's home being one of them.  
"What are you doing here?" I frown.  
He hands me a small envelope.  
"What's this?" I ask and I glance at it. There's five hundred dollars in the envelope.  
"It's not stolen drug money I promise," he is quick to reply to my questioning look. "For your rent."  
I look at him, my eyebrows raised."You know I can't accept this," I reply trying to hand the envelope back to him.  
"Yes, you can," he smirks and he pushes my hand and the envelope back.  
I stare at him looking for the right words to say.  
"Fine, call it a loan, if you like, you can pay me back next month or whenever..."  
I look up and his face is right there.  
"Thank you!" I say and I feel something that's been asleep and forgotten stirring inside my heart.  
He pauses for a moment and as our eyes meet and I realize that he's about to kiss me. Not only that but I want him to. If he tries to kiss me I'm going to let him. There's a forgotten hunger inside me and I'm about to give into it. I look in his eyes, dark brown, his lips, right there, so close...  
"The honorable thing to do...right?" he whispers as he leans in closer and he has no idea that's the worse thing he could possibly say, because those were Charming's words and I see Charming eyes, bright blue, Charming standing in front of me, his hair still wet from the river where I shoved him, his sword on his hand, still panting because he just took on three black knights to save me...  
 _"Seemed like the honorable thing to do..."  
_ I step back.  
"I will pay you back next month I promise," I reply and I force myself to smile."I really appreciate it!"  
"Right, yeah, no problem," he replies looking mildly disappointed. He shrugs. "See you at work tomorrow Mary Margaret."  
"Thank you!" I say one more time and I close the door behind me, I lean against it and let my body slide down on the ground.  
"Charming!"I whisper and I clasp my heart, my fingers shaking, because of what I did. What I almost did. "Charming!" I whisper one more time and I burst into tears.

* * *

And now...

Regina is standing in front of the diner staring at the closed sign hanging from the locked door.  
She turns to look at me.  
"Snow?" she asks. "My, my, aren't you looking different today. What are you doing up this late, all alone? Trouble in paradise?" and then without waiting for a response she tilts her head and she says."Well, Granny's is closed, any idea where I can get some pudding with pink sprinkles at this time of night?"  
I stare at her, my eyes wide open, my heart beating wildly. This can't be happening. This can't be real. It can't possibly be Regina's heart in Granny's food storage. But it is. It has to be. Who would come to Granny's for pudding with pink sprinkles in the middle of the night? Who even eats pudding with pink sprinkles?  
"I don't know." I manage to say. "It's your town Regina."  
"Right, my town. You'll do well to remember that," she replies and she turns around and walks away.

I gasp. And then I walk, no I ran back to Granny's Bed and Breakfast. I climb up the stairs two by two and I rush to my room to tell David what I just learned. As I unlock the door and glance at David and Henry I take two steps back. They are still sleeping of course. I'm not going to tell him, not now. In fact I don't know if I'm ever going to tell him. I leave the door open in case David wakes up. I want to go for a walk to clear my head but I promised him I'll be here when he wakes up in the morning. I can't just take off on him.

My hands are still shaking. Regina's heart is in a bag, tagged as unclaimed, in Granny's storage room, placed right next to the turnips. Regina's heart, is in the storage room next to the turnips. Regina's heart.  
And nobody knows. Nobody suspects, not Ruby, not David, not Rumpelstiltskin. I'm the only one who knows. I could sneak back there, take her heart and I could get Regina to do my bidding forever. I could sneak back there get her heart and order her to sleep, wait for her to wake up and order her back to sleep again and again and again, I could trap her in my very own sleeping curse. I could. I can. I could, I can and I will. I take a deep breath. I can and I will. And I won't tell anyone about it either. I won't let anyone stop me or talk me out of this. This one is on me. This one is one is all mine. Mine for every night I cried alone in this land without magic. Mine for every night David spent alone in the dark. My revenge. No, I try to argue, it's not revenge, it's well deserved consequences for her actions. Justice. Just punishment.  
There are hundreds of reasons why I should do this, hundreds of reasons why I deserve to do this. Because she killed my father. Because she put me under a sleeping curse. Because Charming was asleep for twenty eight years. Because she trapped everyone in Storybrooke and altered their identities. Because my Emma grew without her father in the land without magic. Because my Emma married the first person she met who believed in fairytales. Because Henry is here, in Storybrooke rather than back home with his friends at his school. Because I had to learn how to handle guns, and learn how to deal with crime scenes, I had to toughen up and live alone for twenty eight years. Because David was asleep for twenty eight years. Because now it's my turn to take control of the situation. My turn. I'm going to take her heart and make her apologize to everyone for all the pain she caused. Then I'm going to order her to sleep and hold her heart in my hand, feel it pulse between my fingers and order it asleep again and again and while she sleeps I'm going to stare at her heart and know that any minute I can end this. I can end her. I can crush her heart and end her forever. I'm going to end her. Slowly, quietly, I'm going to win. Because its my turn, my way, my turn, my turn, my turn. _Because when fate drops answers right at your feet you gotta take them. You gotta help yourself._ Wait, who said that again? Was it Paul? Paul my partner. Paul would be proud... My old partner Paul, who was a good officer, who got things done, who got results. Paul who said that I had to help myself. Paul who I almost kissed and invited into my house when he showed up at the doorstep of my apartment with the rest of my rent money. Paul who firmly believed that when it came to survival the ends justified the means. Following Paul's way. And I don't understand where that thought came from because even though Paul was a good policeman he was also the one who broke the rules and let me get shot in the arm. And I've never thought of him as anything else than an ex partner I worked with. Never thought of him as a role model. Until now. Because neither David nor Emma would stand for what I'm about to do. They wouldn't. So how am I going to pull this off without them finding out? I take a deep breath. It doesn't matter what David or Emma think on the matter, I'm doing this my way. Because it's my turn, my way, me revenge, my victory. I'm going to win.  
The thought of hiding things from David or Emma makes me feel sick to my stomach. I don't want to hide things from them. I could use a drink. I'm sure Granny has a bottle of something somewhere. I go back downstairs and rummage through the reception drawers and cupboards. There's a bottle of something on a back self. I don't even bother to read the label. I just open it and take a swig. I take the whole bottle upstairs with me. I hesitate and instead of walking back in the room I sit on the stairs. And I have this strange feeling like this dark fog is coming up around me, growing, overwhelming me.

* * *

Eighteen years earlier...

"Who is Charming?" the nurse at the ER asks me once I'm at the hospital.  
There's a bullet wound on my arm and even though it's not life threatening I can feel my whole body throbbing with pain.  
Paul, my partner broke the rules and I got shot. I did everything by the book, I always do. He didn't.  
"My husband, that's what I used to call my husband, a long time ago," I whisper and I look away.  
"Awww, Charming? Like prince Charming? That's so sweet. Is he coming? Do you need us to contact him?"  
I shake my head. "He can't come, he's far away. How do you even know about him?" I ask the nurse.  
"You kept calling him when they first brought you in. I think you were in shock," she replies and I nod."You know sometimes traumatic events tend to bring people closer, maybe you should call him..." she continues.  
"Maybe I will," I reply because I respect the fact that she is taking the time to help me out, beyond my immediate physical needs.  
But I'm a special case. I'm beyond help. I can't just call my husband. There are no phones in the Enchanted Forest, or wherever he ended up at. I just have to make do with memories. So I eagerly swallow the painkillers she hands me, I wash them down with water and I close my eyes and let myself get all sleepy and numb. The pain on my arm is gone now, but the pain in my heart is getting stronger. I feel so alone. Charming is not coming. He is not. And I don't know where to find him. I don't...

 _"Why are you crying?"  
_ _I'm alone in the dark, dizzy and disoriented when I hear a man's voice talking to me. Why am I crying? Am I even crying? Where am I?  
_ _"I don't know," I reply.  
_ _"Wait, you can hear me?" he sounds surprised.  
_ _"Yes. Who are you?"  
_ _"I don't know," he sighs. "Who are you?"  
_ _"I'm...I'm...I'm not sure...they have me on strong pain medication and my brain is all fuzzy..."  
_ _"Pain medication? Are you in pain?" he asks and he sounds real concerned. He sounds really worried about me.  
_ _"Not anymore. That's what the pain medication is for. I got shot."  
_ _"Arrow?"  
_ _Weird question. Who uses arrows nowadays ? "Bullet."  
_ _"What is that?"  
_ _"It hurts more than an arrow wound. But I don't feel pain anymore."  
_ _"Why are you crying?" his voice sounds softer now.  
_ _"I don't know, my heart hurts...something is wrong with my heart..."  
_ _"Are you sick?"  
_ _"No, nothing like that, I'm missing something, someone...it really hurts..."  
_ _"Who are you missing?"  
_ _"I don't know...I miss my... I think I lost my husband, I don't know where he is...Why isn't he here? Why isn't ye coming? How about you? Where are_ _you? Who are you?"  
_ _"I don't know. I can't remember."  
_ _"I'm sorry. Are you in_ _pain?"  
_ _"No," he replies and his voice sounds cracked. Should I ask him what's wrong? He didn't hesitate to ask me.  
_ _"I don't mean to pry but you sound like you are crying too. What's wrong?"  
_ _"Oh, I'm fine, I'm not upset. I'm just happy you can hear me. Our conversations are usually one sided."  
_ _"Wait what? Have we talked before? Why don't I remember this? Do we know each other?"  
_ _"I know you. Or at least I feel like I know you. I hear your voice all the time. But this is the first time you've ever replied."  
_ _"Do you talk to me a lot?"  
_ _"Sometimes."  
_ _" I'm so sorry. I can't hear you..."  
_ _"Yes, I figured that a long time ago. It's not your fault..."  
_ " _I'll try to listen harder..."  
_ _"Who are you? Do we know each other?" he asks me again.  
_ _"I don't know, everything is so foggy. I think that I'm two people, the fairytale me that's actually real and the real me that's not , that doesn't make any sense, does it?"  
_ _"Maybe. I'm not sure."  
_ _"It's okay. You can be honest. I know what I just said made zero sense. It must be the pain medication talking..."  
_ _"Just because I don't understand it, doesn't mean that it doesn't make sense," he replies and I'm grateful for his perspective.  
_ _"Alright...thanks for not telling me that I've completely lost it."  
_ _"No, never," he replies and I think he might be smiling too.  
_ _"Well, it's your turn to talk.I can hear you now. Maybe the reason I can hear you is because I'm medicated, so tell me...is there something I can do for you? Maybe I can pass on a message to your loved ones from you..."  
_ _"I...I just need you to know that you are not alone..." he says and I gasp. Something inside me cracks. My eyes are tearing up and my shoulders are shaking because I'm sobbing now. I wonder if he knows how much I needed that. How much I needed to hear that..  
"I know it's not much," he continues and I shake my head.  
_ _"That's a lot. That's everything..." I manage to reply through my tears. "Thank you!" And then I ask "Why can't I see you?"  
_ _"I don't know. I can't see anything."  
_ _"Me either..._ _Can you stay with me?" I ask and I hold my breath.  
_ _"Always. I will always find you..."_

I gasp and I sit up saying "Charming!" And I'm wondering how I didn't see this sooner, how I didn't recognize his voice earlier.  
But I don't hear his reply because I'm awake. The realization of who he is startled me awake. I groan and I hide my face in the pillow.  
"No, no, no! I woke up! Where are you!" I ask the void. "Where are you? I can't hear you anymore..."

* * *

And now...

"Snow?" David walks out of our room and sees me sitting on the staircase a bottle of whiskey in my hand. "What are you doing out here? What's going on?"  
I don't reply, I'm just staring down at the stairs.  
"It's freezing," he mumbles. He heads back in the room and comes back with a blanket and he drapes it around my shoulders. Then he sits down on the step next step and looks at me clearly concerned.  
"Can't sleep?" he asks, trying to sound casual, trying not to push too hard and I shake my head.  
"Is something wrong?" he asks.  
Well for starters I'm quite drunk, I can't feel my face, and I need to start keeping secrets from you which I don't like at all, I think inside my head.  
"What makes you think something is wrong?" I reply, trying to sound lighthearted, trying not to slur my words.  
"Lucky guess," he replies dryly eyeing the bottle in my hand.  
"Would you like a drink?" I offer trying to smile.  
He hesitates for a brief second then takes the bottle from my hand and takes a sip.  
"Alright," he replies "How about you tell me why we are drinking?"  
When I was a child I was unable to keep Regina's secret which is what got us into this current mess. Now Regina's just end hinges on me being able to keep my discovery a secret. And I'm not too drunk to appreciate the irony.  
"Maybe I'm celebrating," I reply noncommittally.  
"Right," he responds sounding entirely unconvinced. "What are we celebrating?"  
"Celebrating a relationship based on trust and not too many questions?" I offer and he actually laughs.  
He shakes his head and he offers his hand.  
I hand him the bottle instead.  
He nods and takes another sip.  
I turn to look at him. The amount of love and concern in his eyes makes my heart hurt. I don't like keeping secrets from him, I really don't so I look away.  
"Where are you?" he asks and I know exactly what he means. Because the woman who held him and kissed him goodnight is not the same woman he woke up to. She's been replaced by a woman who knows exactly what she wants and what she wants isn't pretty.  
I shake the thoughts out of my head. I'm still me. Just finally willing to play a little dirty. Willing to bend the rules.  
"I'm right here," I reply and I take another sip but my voice sounds cold, distant. I try to force a smile on my face but he looks at me and he knows better.  
"No, you are not. Where are you?" he asks again and he offers his hand.  
I look at his hand and I know all I have to do is reach for him and tell him the truth. But I don't want to. What I want is to keep my discovery a secret and take advantage if it. Because we've suffered enough. I've suffered enough. I just have to keep my secret long enough to sneak into Granny's diner, get to Regina's heart and I put her to sleep.  
Because it's my turn, it's my right, it's my revenge. I can do that, I think even as I feel the darkness closes in on me.  
Except David is sitting right there, and he is my David, my Charming, the man who just a few hours ago figured out how to turn me back to my younger self, the man who was willing to stay with me even when I was old enough to be his mother and I can't just shut him out, I just can't. My brain is all foggy and dizzy.  
And then out of nowhere I blurt out "I had this partner at work...his name was Paul. He believed that when fate throws answers at your feet you gotta take them and make things happen,"I reply.  
"What sort of things?" he frowns.  
"Do you think he's right? Do you think the ends justify the means?" I ask ignoring his question.  
David looks at me and doesn't reply right away. Then he asks "Do you?"  
And when I don't respond he adds, "What kind of answers?"  
"I don't know. Answers. Making things happen. He is the reason I got shot, which makes the fact that something almost happened between us even more ridiculous... He always bent the rules. Well almost always. He actually showed up at my apartment once, at night. I was sort on rent and he brought me the rest of the money, he let me borrow it...and I almost...we almost..."  
David stares at me stone faced as I stop my narration, my eyes getting bigger and I freeze. I honestly don't even know why I brought this up. Why I'm even talking about this. Stop talking, I order my half drunk mind, stop talking right now, but my mouth has already said too much.  
I look at him and I cringe. What did I just do? Out of everything I could have brought up, why this? Why now? Am I trying to get a reaction, am I trying to distract him or am I just self destructing for no apparent reason? Where did this even come from?  
He doesn't reply and I feel the darkness coming in closer.  
"It would be really nice if you said something, right about now," I mumble and my voice sounds really small as I try to figure out how to get out of the corner I just backed myself into. Is he upset?  
"What do you need me to say? Do you need me to be jealous? Do you need me to say I forgive you for something that didn't happen?" his voice is calm, certain.  
"No, I just..." I let my voice trail off.  
"Where are you Snow? What's going on? You are not out here drinking in the middle of the night because of what didn't happen with Paul eighteen years ago..." he replies and I sigh.  
There's a weird fog around me, a cloud of darkness, and I'm trying so hard to ignore its existence.  
Then I turn to look at him.  
"How did you know that was eighteen years ago?"  
"Because you told me. You told me around the same time that you told me about Emma loosing her back teeth, so I figure it had to be at least eighteen tears ago...Am I wrong?"  
"No, you are not wrong," I hesitate, "so, you are saying that I brought this up back then and you heard me?" I whisper and there are no words to describe how awful I'm feeling right now. My eyes are open wide and I am totally horrified.  
David was laying all alone in the dark and I confessed that I almost kissed and had an affair with Paul... Obviously I had no idea he was listening, but no, no no, I couldn't have done that!  
"I'm so sorry, " I mumble ,"I didn't realize, I didn't mean to make you feel...-" I have no idea where to go from here. I cover my face with my hands as I struggle to look for the right words.  
"Jealous? Worried? Trapped?" he asks then he shrugs. "I didn't. Or at least I tried not to. You see I didn't remember who I was. I didn't know I was your husband...I didn't feel like I had the right to feel any of those things... But I did feel jealous."  
"Of Paul? Because it was nothing, no one, I mean we were friends, but I never... it would never... nothing happened, I'm not sure why I even brought him up" I'm quick to reply feeling miserable, hating my foggy brain and that bottle in my hand, trying desperately to patch things up. I didn't want to hurt him or make him jealous, I really didn't.  
"No, Snow, I felt bad for Paul because I thought that he and I were on the same boat. He was clearly in love with you as was I. I was jealous of your husband."  
"What? Why? What do you mean?" I whisper and I look up at him wide eyed, my mouth open.  
"Because you were so devastated and terrified of hurting him even though nothing had actually happened. Because you were so incredibly loyal it made me wonder who he was, and where he was and if he actually deserved this kind of loyalty..." he replies and I gasp.  
Something inside me cracks. My eyes tear up, and I look down.  
"David! I..." I'm not sure where to even begin. Because this heavy cloud is pushing me down...  
"Where are you Snow?" he asks me one last time quietly. "What is really going on?"  
I see Regina's red pulsing heart on my hand. I see my fingers wrapped around it, ready to crush her. It's my turn, my right, my revenge. But if I choose that path I'll have to walk it alone. I'll have to lie to David who thinks I'm loyal and faithful and kind... who sees me as so much better than who I actually am. I see David's hand reaching for me, offering to pull me out of my darkness. And I know I have to choose. I have to choose fast before the darkness swallows me whole. I have to come home before I completely loose my way.  
"I'm not the nice, kind person you think I am," I whisper. "You have no idea of what kind of terrible things I'm capable of..."  
"Tell me," he replies.  
Regina's red pulsing heart in my hand, beating, begging me for mercy. My turn, my right, my revenge, my darkness, I think one last time and then I reach for David's hand.  
"Tell me," he says one more time as he squeezes my fingers.  
"Last night, after you fell asleep, I went back to Granny's. And I met Regina who came out for pudding with pink sprinkles...The last heart, the one that Ruby tagged as unclaimed, it belongs to Regina." I reply quietly.  
David's eyes grow wider.  
"I wasn't going to tell anybody, not even you. I was just going to steal it, and I was going to make her fall asleep over and over and over, just like she did to you. Just like she did to me. And I was going to make her suffer and maybe even crush her heart...-"and as I say it out loud, I hate the words that come out of my mouth, and I'm crying now, my body shaking, sobbing quietly. And after a few minutes when I glance up I see David looking back at me with nothing but love and warmth in his eyes.  
"I wasn't going to tell you, because I knew you'd try to stop me, but I didn't want to lie to you either...I don't know what I was thinking" I mumble and I feel like I can't stand myself right now.  
David looks at me and he nods.  
"If I try to stop you is because I know that you won't be able to live with yourself if you do any of those things to Regina. I'm all for Regina paying for her crimes, but not by your hand and not out of vengeance," he adds then he shifts closer to me.  
"I'm so angry," I reply, still sobbing, "she took away so much..."  
"She did. And she deserves to feel every bit of your anger and your pain, but you don't deserve to live with the guilt afterwards," he whispers and I let him pull me on his lap. "Look at us! Look at how much you've accomplished in the last few days. Snow, I'm so proud of you!" he adds and part of me feels like I don't deserve this but the other part feels so grateful, so happy he is here and I'm not facing this alone.  
"Thank you" I whisper and then his lips meet mine and I close my eyes, breathing faster, easier. I'm leaning back on the steps and David is kissing me still.

"What are you guys doing on the stairs in the middle of the night?" a little voice asks and we turn to see a half asleep Henry standing on top of the staircase looking at us.  
David smiles. "We are just talking. Please go back to bed Henry, we'll be right there."  
He gets up first, the he offers his hand to pull me up.  
"So, what do you say we go take a look at that farm tomorrow? Because we need a place where Henry and Emma can stay if they like, but we need some walls, and a bedroom with a door that locks" David smirks.  
A place of our own, I think and I look at him. A place of our own. A glimpse of a future.  
"Tomorrow," I agree. "But when we are out there in the farm we'll be on our own, no help...what happens if we get attacked again?" I ask.  
"Couldn't we get a dog?" David asks. "This way they can't sneak up on us."  
I look at him and I laugh through my tears and I nod. And I marvel at this man standing before me, loving me. Because he is right here smiling at me, offering a future. A sweet uncomplicated future in a farm with a dog. And maybe more babies. And I feel like I'm breathing in the light once more and I don't know how he did that, how he found me in the darkness squeezing Regina's heart and brought me to a future in the light with a farm and a dog. And I'm crying now, crying tears of joy.  
"Are you alright? Did you need to talk some more?" he asks.  
I lay down in the bed and I wait till he lays next to me then I snuggle up as close to him as possible and I bury my head in his chest.  
"No, not really, unless you do," I whisper.  
He wraps his arms around me tightly and I close my eyes.

* * *

Hello! I'm so glad you are still here! I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing! As always reviews, comments, thoughts, concerns and arguments are very appreciated.  
Thanks for being here!

 **baratta jennifer chapter 9 Great chapters**  
Thank you! ( ◞･౪･)

 **Guest chapter 9 . This was a fun chapter. I enjoyed the multiple kisses that brought back Snow's youth. But who wouldn't enjoy being kissed by Charming? Wow, what a cliffhanger you wrote. This had to be one of your best. I suspected the heart was going to belong to either Rumple or Regina. Who is controlling them? Rumple? Will we see Cora as the master manipulator? We will just have to wait and see.**

:) Glad you liked my cliffhanger. I'd love to reply in detail but I don't want to give out spoilers.

 **Guest chapter 9 I wanted to clarify something. When I said surprise baby I meant as Snow slowly deaged she would get pregnant like some women do late in life. This is described as an oops or menopause baby. She is now young so missed that chance. The other thing I wanted to mention was there was a movie called "the great American Smokeout"? I am fuzzy about the title. The plot is a town will win a prize if the whole population quits smoking. One of the jokes was the couples get busy to occupy thier time. There was one scene where a female character looks at herself in the mirror after a night of amorous activity. She notices who complexion looks better. Your description of Snow looking at herself in the mirror after similar amorous activity reminded me of the movie scene.**

Yes I understood that. Originally I was toying with the idea of Snow realizing that she is slowly deaging because she is pregnant. You see, I figured if David is 30 then Snow is 58. She has been in menopause for a while. But if she gets pregnant then maybe she's deaged to 48 or 49...I knew it was time for her to be young again but I didn't want to deage her yet. I was enjoying the age difference a little too much.  
I haven't seen that movie. It sounds fun. But also when a person is in love they automatically look better. It has to do with being happy or emotional, I don't know...

 **Guest chapter 9 Great great job on this chapter. I suspected the deaging as well but as Charming I didn't want to be have false hope. But ah! I'm so happy for her, she gets to grow old with the love of her life for real and have the life they deserve. The reaction at granny's was so moving and emotional. I wonder how Emma will react to Snows new face. I got the same uncomfortable feeling as Snow did handling the hearts which was a good idea. I was fearing that it was Snows heart first. But it was Reginas? What a plot twist. Did Regina take out her own heart like she has done before or was it from Coras collection? This fanfic never disappoints, excited for what comes next!**

Thank you! Yes if the last heart was Snow's heart it could have been really cool. But so far she loves David and Emma and Henry so much, it'd be hard to say that she doesn't have a heart. But that could be a good idea for a future fanfic.

 **Guest chapter 9 You really know how to write your plot twists! First Snows deaging and then Reginas heart! . Also Neal's stuck? I'm glad that he and Emma made up. But also worried that he'll get hurt now when Regina knows. This was overall a good chapter!  
**  
Honestly, I was so excited about this plot twist. I'm so glad you liked it!


	11. Chapter 11

Emma rushes into Granny's diner late and runs straight to our table.  
"Good morning Henry!" she says and kisses him on the forehead, "Mom!Dad! Sorry I'm late, she says and then she looks at me and gasps."Mom! Your face! You look so young! How did this happen?"  
"It's a long story," I smile but she is not really listening. She looks at David drinking his coffee while his left hand is absentmindedly caressing my back and then she look back at me, her eyes welling up.  
"You guys look picture perfect," she whispers. "Looking at you makes me believe that anything is possible!"  
"How did your talk with Neal go?" I smile and she looks at Henry and then back at me shifting uncomfortably on her chair.  
"Long story," she replies and I gather by her expression that there wasn't much talking done last night. "What do you make of his deal with the Queen?" she asks me. "Is it incredibly romantic or incredibly foolish?"  
"Yes!" I reply.  
"Yes to what?" she asks me.  
"Yes to both," I reply and David smiles.  
"What do you think of Neal, Dad?" Emma asks and she looks at him, eyes wide open waiting for his verdict. His opinion means a lot to her.  
"I like him," David states simply and Emma smiles. She looks relieved.  
"Really?" she asks.  
"How could he not like him? Your father is all about the self sacrificing kamikaze moves!"  
"If you are going to keep using that term you are going to have to explain it to me!" David frowns.  
Henry's eyes light up. "You see grandpa, there was this war called world war two and then..." and Henry launches this complicated explanation and in the end David looks more confused than ever.  
"Well, we ought to talk more about everything but Henry has to go to school and I have to get to work," Emma interrupts Henry.  
"We'll talk later,"I smile.  
"What are you guys up to today?" Emma asks."Any amazing curse breaking plans?"  
"We are thinking of renting the farmhouse, the one you found,"I reply.  
"And maybe getting a dog," David smiles.  
"Really?"Emma looks at us. "This is your plan for today? No grand schemes, no waking people up or telling people the truth, or confronting Regina..."  
"Not today," David smiles and then he interlocks his fingers with mine.  
"Okay," Emma shrugs and she gets up and takes one last look at me. "Mom you look absolutely stunning. Henry come on, you are going to miss your bus," Emma ruffles Henry's hair and he gets up and follows her outside.

We make an appointment to go look at the farmhouse so we then we borrow Emma's yellow bug. The farmhouse is only fifteen minutes away from Granny's. We drive out to a delightful two story house that comes along with ten acres of land and a large barn.  
"I didn't expect it to be this nice," I say looking around. "What do you think?"  
"This is really great," David says and then we walk up to the front door. The front door is unlocked, so we walk inside.  
"Hello! Anybody home?" I say loudly.  
"In here!" I hear a girl's voice. We follow the voice to the family room to see a blond woman wiping the window. The hardwood floor seems freshly mopped too.  
"Hello!" I say one again and the girl turns around and wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. And as she turns I notice her very large pregnant belly and I instantly recognize her.  
"Ella?" I say. "Ella is that you?"  
"My name is Ashley" she replies.  
"Alright Ashley, what are you doing here? Are you the one who cleaned this house? Because you shouldn't be working this hard in your condition!"  
"I'm doing some odd jobs here and there. I really need the money," she replies.  
"Ashley, honey you look exhausted. Won't you sit down! Are you thirsty?"  
Ella sits down on the couch and leans back.  
David rushes to the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water.  
She looks uneasy. "I'm supposed to be giving you a tour."  
"We'll look around on our own," I reply. "You sit here and relax." David and I walk out of the room and look around the rest of the house. It's a beautiful house really. It comes already furnished. And it has four large bedrooms. Perfect for Emma and Henry if they want to stay with us, even though I have a strong suspicion that Emma, Henry and Neal are going to be staying together soon.  
"Who is that girl?" David asks.  
So I tell him about Ella, the girl with the glass slippers who married prince Thomas who was our friend. I tell him about the deal that she made with Rumpelstiltskin without fully understanding the consequences of her actions and I explain about the plan David made with Thomas to trap Rumpelstiltskin and keep Ella and her baby together.  
"Did the plan work?" David asks.  
"I don't know. Shortly after we trapped Rumpelstiltskin Thomas disappeared into thin air. And if Ella is still pregnant and Rumpelstiltskin is free, I can't tell what is going on. It seems that your plan got interrupted by the curse. We have to get more information without scaring her," I reply.  
So we head back to the living room.  
"This house is beautiful,"I smile at Ella. "Who is the owner?"  
"Mr Gold," she replies.  
"Oh, do you have a lot of dealings with him?" I ask and Ella cringes.  
And that's when I begin to suspect that maybe Ella made the exact same deal twice.  
"I can't talk about it," she says."I signed a non disclosure agreement. I think if I talk about it he's going to find out."  
"If you talk about what?" I ask.  
"I made a deal with him..."she says." But if I get enough money I'm going to skip town and then none of this is going to matter," she replies.  
"Skipping town might be harder than you think," David replies. "But if you tell us what your deal is we will try our best to protect you," he adds.  
Ella looks at him and frowns. "You don't even know me. Why would you do anything for me?"  
David looks at me and I nod. It's time to come clean with Ashley.  
"What if I told you that I do know you? From a different life?"  
Ella looks at me carefully. "Like reincarnation?Or like a ghost?" she asks.  
"Not exactly," I reply. "We are all from a different realm, a story realm and we used to know each other. My name is Snow White and you were Ella."  
"Snow White?" she asks. "Wait, I've heard about you. You are the woman who came here looking older and the you woke up John Doe from the hospital and told him he was your husband and then you started looking younger!"  
That's a very accurate brief description of what everything that's happened. I realize that the fact that Storybrooke is a small town where everybody knows each other is really working in my favor. "That's me," I reply.  
Ella looks at me and then she looks at David. "So you are the real Snow White, and you are the real Prince Charming?" she asks. "And I'm Ella?"  
"Yes!" I smile.  
"Ella like Cinderella?"  
"Yes"  
"Do I get a Prince Charming too?" she asks and I see so much hope in her eyes.  
"Well," I smile "that name is taken. But, your prince's name is Thomas. And he loves you very much."  
"See, that can't be right. My boyfriend's name is Sean, and he broke up with me, even though I was pregnant. His father said that there was no way he could know that the baby was his even though I told him he was my first...-" and Ella stops talking and she breaks into sobs.  
I put my arm around her shoulders. "Does Sean have dark blond hair and green eyes? And does he have dimples on his cheeks when he smiles?"  
"How do you know that?"  
"Because his real name is Thomas. And he is not your boyfriend, he is your husband. And I think if we get a chance to talk to him we can sort everything out..."  
And that's when Ella starts sobbing even harder.  
"What's wrong?" David asks.  
"You are telling me I have a husband and he loves me and even if that's even true, once he finds out the deal I made with Mr Gold he is not going to love me anymore..."  
"Does the deal you are talking about involve your baby and Mr Gold somehow?" David asks.  
Ella stops her crying momentarily and looks at David. "How do you know that?"  
"Look, I don't remember any of this but apparently we've all been through this before. You made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin and when he came to collect he asked for your first born child and we were trying to help you break it."  
"Yes, that's right, and not only that but when you told your husband the truth he didn't stop loving you Ella. He said you were in this together..."I add as softly as I can. Because I can see that Ella is shaking.  
"Did he really? That doesn't sound anything like Sean," Ella replies sadly.  
"Sean is confused. He is under a curse just like all of us. You see while you had issues with Rumpelstiltskin we had issues with the Evil Queen," I try to explain.  
"Right, Snow white and the Evil Queen. That makes sense." Ella replies. "But how does Cinderella get involved with Rumpelstiltskin? Aren't those two different fairytales?"  
"You are right," I reply, "but Rumpelstiltskin inserts himself in every fairytale, whenever he senses weakness. That's what he does."  
Ella nods. "I believe you. But if I skip town, Mr Gold won't be able to find me."  
"Yes, but see, part of the curse is that we can't leave Storybrooke," David explains.  
And Ella looks terrified. "I can't leave? Then you have to help me!" I don't want to lose my baby!"  
"We'll take care of it," I reply.  
Ella nods. "So you and I were friends?" she asks looking at us almost shyly.  
"Yes, yes we were. And I missed you Ella!"  
"We should head back. If we take too long I think Mr Gold will suspect that something is off."  
Ella gets up slowly. We walk out of the house together and she hand me the house key. "Can you lock for me? I don't feel so good."  
I turn back to lock while David helps Ella down the stairs. And then Ella turns back and looks at me terrified. "I... I don't feel so good. I think maybe I've been having contractions for a while...I think, I think the baby is coming! I can't have this baby now!"  
"Don't worry," I try to reassure her. "We are here. It won't take us but fifteen minutes to get you to the hospital!"  
Ella looks at me. "But we haven't dealt with Gold yet. And as soon as he finds out I gave birth he's going to come take my baby. You can't take me there, please!"  
"As son as we get you settled at the hospital, we'll go talk to him." I try to reassure her.  
Ella still looks scared. "No! No hospital please! Please!" she begs me and I look at David. I do have extensive first response training. I have helped deliver babies before, once even on the side of the freeway.  
"Are we up for this?" I ask.  
He nods. "Tell me what to do!"  
"Alright," I explain to Ella. "I'll help you do this, but at the first sign of trouble I am calling an ambulance."  
"Please, just help me," she begs and I nod.  
"Can you walk?" I ask and Ella shakes her head and then she tenses up and screams.  
"We are going to have to carry her to one of the bedrooms," I tell David, who scoops Ella up in his arms and heads on upstairs.  
Once we have her situated on a bed upstairs I turn to David.  
"We are going to need towels, hot water...-" I give him a large extensive list of things we will need. He raids the kitchen and the cupboards and comes back with pretty much everything I asked for.  
"Have you done this before?" he asks.  
"We've done this before," I smile.  
He looks surprised. "Do you mean other than Emma?" he asks.  
"Yes," I smile. "We found a woman in the woods, she was in pain. We helped her give birth and helped her find her way back to her home, to her husband. Turns out she was a princess suffering from a confusing memory spell. They lived happily ever after."  
He looks at me and I can see it in his eyes the frustration of not knowing, not remembering.  
"I'm sorry," I whisper and he shakes his head.  
"Not your fault," he replies than he looks at me."So, what do we do next?"  
We are interrupted by Ella's scream. "I want to push!" she yells.  
"This is happening a lot faster than I expected. Push!" I say as I help her get more comfortable and remove her underwear. "Take a deep breath and push."  
"Where is Sean?" she cries and I try to reassure her.  
"As soon as we are done here I'll go talk to him," David replies.  
"Do you promise?" she asks and then she screams again.  
"I promise." David says and Ella tries to breathe.  
"And you'll talk to Gold?" she asks and then she screams.  
''All that matters is you and the baby," I reply."Forget everything else and try to focus on your breathing."  
"But, but you will talk to him?" she asks.  
"Yes, we'll talk to him," David replies.  
"Do you promise?" she asks and she reaches for his hand.  
And then she screams gripping on David's arm for dear life and I feel for prince Thomas missing his baby's birth almost as much as I fell for David not remembering Emma's birth...  
"I can see the baby's head!" I say quite loudly. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"  
"It's a girl," Ella says and then she grasps David's hand again and she screams.  
"Push Ella, push!"I say completely forgetting to call her Ashley. "Your little girl is coming!" and can feel my eyes welling up with tears.  
I look at David who looks like he might be ready to cry too.  
I mouth the words "I love you" to him and then I focus on Ella. "Can you push for me one more time?"  
"I can't," she whispers.  
"Yes, you can. One more time Ella, come on, think of how amazing it will be when you get to meet your little girl!" David says and then Ella lets out a scream and she pushes one more time as hard as she can,and I can help but sob as I pull her baby into my arms.  
"Cry for me baby, please," I whisper to the tiny sweet perfect baby in my arms and she takes a deep breath and her rosy cheeks turn red as she lets out her first cry.  
"That's it baby, good job," I say through my tears and I wrap the baby in a towel and I place it on Ella's chest.  
Ella is laughing and crying at the same time. I take the scissors I had David sterilize and cut the baby's cord. I look at David who is looking at the baby smiling and I recognize the longing in his eyes. And I'm so grateful to be thirty again and able to have more children with him.  
We will have this again, I think and this time no one will take it from us.  
David looks up at me and when I look back at him he mouths "I love you too."  
And once we are done and Ella is nursing her baby daughter I step out of the bedroom and into the bathroom to wash my hands.  
David waits for me outside.  
"Now what?" he asks.  
"Now I burst into tears and you hold me. Or the other way around," I reply.  
"My favorite part," he replies smiling. "We've got to deal with Gold now don't we?" he says and I nod.  
"We should call Emma, and ask her to come be with Ella while we go talk to him. We shouldn't leave her alone."

"How is it going Mom?" I hear Emma's cheerful voice.  
"Are you busy? Because we have a situation here."  
"A situation? What are you guys up to?"  
"Cinderella gave birth at the new farmhouse except she's made a deal to give her baby to Mr Gold..."  
Emma laughs. "Cinderella gave birth? Why, of course she did. I'll be right over. I thought you were taking it easy today!" she adds.  
"We were. It's a long story..."

Emma sits with Ella in the upstairs bedroom.  
"You are Snow White's daughter?" Ella asks.  
"I am!" Emma smiles.  
"What is it like being raised by the real Snow White?" Ella asks.  
David holds my hand as we make our way out of Ella's room.  
"My Mom is the best," Emma replies simply.  
"Are you ready for this?" David asks.  
I shake my head no. "This is the second time we've tried to set Ella free of this awful deal," I reply. "And I don't have any idea how."  
David shrugs and squeezes my hand tighter.  
I'm already feeling a little sick to my stomach when I walk into Gold's shop.  
"Well, you've certainly been busy," Gold says looking at my younger looking face "Interesting. You are going to have to tell me how you did this one day."  
"I'm here to find out what you plan to do with Ella's baby."  
"Ella? Ella doesn't ring the bell. I think you might be confusing real life with fairytales dearie! I do however have a legally binding contract with Ashley Boyd."  
"What kind of contract?" David asks.  
"That's for me to know and you to wonder dearie. Besides, it's become abundantly clear that you only do whatever your wife lets you do, so there's no point in talking to you. Let the adults talk now."  
"Stop it!" I practically hiss at him. "Stop spreading your poison around and tell me what you want!"  
"What makes you think I want something dearie?"  
"What do you want with Ashley's child? You know that it will be very hard for you to uphold a contract that has to do with a baby. I'm pretty sure that when someone gives their baby up for adoption they can change their mind even at the last minute. So I don't know how you expect to win this one."  
"Maybe I have some information on Ashley that if Child Protective Services were to find out the would take her baby from her immediately. So maybe once I told her that, she realized that she might as well let her baby go because we all know she is not cut out to be a mother."  
"What! You blackmailed her? What sort of information do you have?"  
"Not telling!" he smiles his infuriating Rumple smile. "Besides, Ella was raised by an evil stepmother, she wouldn't know how to be a mother anyway. I am doing her child a favor."  
"You don't get to decide who will be a good mother and who won't. I was raised by an evil stepmother."  
"And were you a good mother dearie?"  
"Yes," I reply hesitantly.  
"Your daughter is twenty eight and her son is ten. Which means she got pregnant at seventeen? Yes, you certainly are mother of the year material!" he replies.  
"Hey!" David yells loudly.  
Rumpelstiltskin looks at him and actually steps back.  
"Fine, she did the best she could under some harrowing circumstances bla bla bla, are you satisfied dearie?"  
And because David is still glaring at him, Rumpelstiltskin takes one more step back, just in case.  
But I realize that there is no use arguing. He has information on all of us, he's keeping tabs. If he says he has incriminating information on Ashley it's probably true. And I'm not letting Ella loose her baby.  
"I want to make a deal with you. What do you want in order to cancel the deal with Ella?"  
"Snow!" David says and he is looking at me all worried.  
"What are you willing to give me?" he asks.  
I want this over with. I'm not in the mood for games, "Just tell me what you want!"  
"I want you to stay here in Storybrooke until the curse is broken."  
"Find a way to give David his memories back and you've got a deal."  
"Snow don't!" David shakes is head.  
"Did I give you the impression that David could get his memories back without the curse being broken? Because that's not possible. Not until the curse breaks dearie. Do we have a deal?"  
I glance at David who looks really worried. Then I think of Ashley and her sweet innocent baby. I can't let Rumpelstiltskin anywhere's near her.  
I look back at David. He knows I don't really have a choice so he tries to alter the deal and get me out of this.  
"Why do you need Snow trapped here? I'm already trapped here and she is staying with me, isn't that enough?"  
"No! Because you already have some sort of magic. She is already looking half her original age. Who knows what else she can do? Maybe she can free you and that just won't do. Here, you let me put this on your arm Snow White and I will leave Ashley and her baby alone."  
He holds out a black cuff that looks like a strange leather bracelet.  
"What does this do?" I ask hesitantly.  
"It keeps the wearer near the epicenter of the dark curse. In other words, you can't leave. Do we have a deal?"  
I extend my hand and David shakes his head.  
"Put it on my hand," he says placing his hand on top of mine. "Please! Leave Snow out of it!"  
"Well, you did say please..." Rumpelstiltskin says teasingly "but I'm only putting it on Snow's hand!"  
I place my hand on top of David's.  
"It's alright," I tell him but he doesn't look convinced at all.  
Rumpelstiltskin looks quite please with himself while he places the leather cuff on my wrist.  
"What happens if I take it off?" I ask.  
"That's not possible. You'll probably have to cut off your arm to take it off, so if you manage to take it off you are free to go. To the emergency room probably" he laughs."Oh and Snow White, you can have the farmhouse," he says. "Free of charge. It will make a delightful prison cell."

We walk out of Gold's and I think we are both emotionally drained because neither of us says a word. We head straight to Sean's house. David knocks on the door.  
Thomas or rather Sean opens the door. "Can help you?"  
And after dealing with Frederick I know this is something that David needs to do, so I take a step back.  
"I'm here because I promised Ashley I'd come get you. She has someone she wants you to meet," David starts.  
"Ashley and I broke up." Sean shrugs.  
"Ashely gave birth to your daughter an hour ago," David says and I can tell his patience is running thin.  
"Look, I don't even know if it's my child, besides, she said she was going to give the baby up for adoption...-"  
David rolls his eyes. "There are people in the world that would give up their right arm for an opportunity to watch their children grow. I thought you were one of them. You can ask for...- Snow, what is that test called again?"  
"DNA testing," I reply.  
"Yes you can ask for DNA testing and when the results come back maybe Ashley will forgive you for hesitating and breaking her heart and making her think of giving her baby up, and maybe she will forgive you for letting her give birth in a farmhouse, alone, without you. Or you can do what your heart tells you , which I'm sure is to go see her and your daughter right now...-"  
"She gave birth on her own in a farmhouse?" Sean asks and for the first time I see Thomas shining through him."Where is she?" he asks.  
"Come on, we'll give you a ride," David smiles and we head back to the yellow bug.

Sean walks into the bedroom where Ashley is laying and he shuts the door behind him. We'll never know what exactly was said between them but Sean comes out and he looks really moved.  
"Thank you!" he says. "Thank you guys so much!" And in about an hour he comes back with his truck and a baby car seat and he picks up Ashley and the baby and they drive off together.  
"We did good!" I smile.  
"Yes we did,"David places his arm around me.  
I look at the strange black cuff around my wrist. I've been trying to take it off for the last hour but it's not budging. Now I'm officially trapped here like everybody else. I turn to David who looks really worried for me.  
"What do you think?" I ask."Incredibly shortsighted or incredibly foolish?"  
He shakes his head and he looks at me with so much emotion in his eyes. "Incredibly royal," he replies. "Like a true queen!"  
And I didn't expect this response at all. And I didn't expect his words to mean so much to me but they do, because my eyes well up. "I've never been a queen" I protest quietly.  
"You just put yourself at risk to protect another woman and her baby," he replies. "Just because we never got around to the coronation, doesn't make you any less of a queen," he leans over and kisses my forehead. "I'm sorry you are stuck here though."  
"Oh, it was too late for that," I reply. "I already was stuck here. I'm not leaving this town without you."  
"Really?" he asks. "Because if you needed to go...I didn't want you to be stuck here with me," he adds.  
"David, I should have already gone back to Boston to get more clothes and my stuff and drive my car over here. But I didn't."  
"Why didn't you?"  
"Because last time I walked away from you it took me twenty eight years to find you. And even though I realize that I could drive away and come back, it doesn't matter. I couldn't leave you here. I'm not strong enough. So when we leave, if we ever break the curse, we'll do it together," I reply.  
"We will break the curse," he agrees and then he kisses my lips. "Together."  
"So now what?" I look at the key to the farmhouse in my hand. "Do we still want to live in the farm or did the whole Gold bargain ruin it?"  
"I really like this place. I still want to live there. How about you?"  
"A house big enough for all of us, with doors that lock," I smile."I do too."

We gather all our belongings, we load up Emma's yellow bug and checkout of Granny's B&B. And then David drives the car straight to the library.  
"What are we doing here?" I ask."I thought we were driving to the new house."  
"I have an idea, follow me," he smiles.  
We walk inside the library.  
Neal greets us with a big smile on is face. "What are you guys doing here?"  
"Following a hunch," David replies."Could you let us in the elevator shaft and lower us down, wait five minutes and then pull us back up?"  
"Sure," Neal replies and once again he picks the elevator lock.  
We walk in the elevator, I pull out my flashlight and I turn it on. When we reach the bottom David says "This place is a pocket of magic right? Let me see your hand."  
He pulls on my cuff, in every direction possible but the cuff stays tight on my wrist.  
"Well, it was worth a try" I reply.  
"Hold on," he says, "there's one more thing we haven't tried yet"  
He places his wrist right on my wrist. And I feel a weird tingling sensation.  
"Kiss me," he whispers.  
I step on my tip toes and as I kiss him he pulls on my leather cuff and the cuff flips and and wraps itself right on his wrist.  
"Better!" he says.  
"David!" I say and again I feel overwhelmed.  
He smiles. "It's all part of the plan, right? You remember for me and you do all the hard work and I keep you safe."  
I still look at him my eyes welling up then I pull him in closer. "Thank you," I whisper.  
"Thank you," he smiles.  
"For what?"  
"Surviving, staying strong, rescuing me, keeping Emma safe, remembering me, loving me, I could go on..."  
And I'm so lost in his kiss that when Neal pulls up the elevator shaft he has to cough a couple of times until we realize what's going on.  
"Sorry,"I mumble blushing slightly.  
"Don't be sorry," Neal smiles. "Seeing you guys like this after twenty eight years makes me think that Emma and I have a chance."

David drives us all the way out to our new home and he parks in the driveway. And then he turns to me and asks, "Can you do me a favor?"  
"Anything," I smile.  
"Could you just stay in the car for maybe five minutes?"  
An unusual request but I'm not going to argue with him. I sit in the car checking my e-mails on my phone while David rushes in and out of the house a couple of times and then he comes back and opens my car door.  
"What exactly are you up to?" I ask, a playful smirk on my face. And as I step out of the car I notice that he is being quite serious so I have to ask.  
"David? Is something wrong?"  
"Nothing is wrong," he replies,"it's just that I'm coming to terms with the fact that I might not get my memories back anytime soon. And I don't remember our wedding, or our first kiss, or our first time together, so I wanted to do this just right," he says. "Ready?"  
And I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be ready for, and my heart breaks for him and his missing memories, so I can't hold back my tears.  
"David, I'm so sorry...-" I start.  
"No, no tears," he smiles and he kisses my cheeks and my lips and my eyes, and then he lifts me up and he carries me up the three steps to our porch, through our threshold and then all the way upstairs to our bedroom where he places me on the bed.  
"Did we do this the last time?" he whispers. I look around. He's already made the bed and he's lit two candles and I look at him trying hard not to cry.  
"We did," I whisper "and then we did this," I say as I pull him on top of me, "and this" as I unbutton his shirt. And he kisses me hard and tender at the same time and I completely forget what it was I was saying. He looks at me to see what I was about to say next and as I lay there speechless he smiles.  
"It's alright, I got this from here," he whispers and once again I loose my self in his love.

* * *

Thank you for reading my story, I'm especially grateful to all of you who take the time to review. I had a conversation about Thomas and Ella with a reviewer at my other story and I realized that I missed Thomas and Ella and it was their turn to show up!

 **baratta jennifer chapter 10 Your welcome and good twist with this chapter**

Thank you! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

 **Guest chapter 10 You wrote another lovely chapter. I really enjoy the way you write the love between these two. David is always protecting Snow's heart from darkness. I believe your writing reveals that you yourself must share a deep abiding love. They say write what you know. Don't answer because fantasy is always better than reality. You have still left us with the cliffhanger of who was controlling Regina. Please keep revealing your wonderful tale.**

The cliffhanger remains. Who is controling Regina?  
(Hmmm, I do love my husband very much. And we have been through quite a lot together. )

 **Guest chapter 10 Just a note on hearts, Graham fell in love with Emma without a heart and Robin Hood tells Regina she loves deeply without her heart. So by show's canon, you can love someone even if you have no heart.**

Yes,you are absolutely right. Thank you for bringing this up. That is canon. But could you TLK and deage and wake up David from his comma and activate the clock tower without a heart? I'm making it up as I go along, so I don't know either. Let me know what you think. Because if the last heart had been Snow's that would have been quite a plot twist!

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 10 Omg, this chapter had so much feels. The flash backs between MM and Paul, her almost kissing him till he says the one thing that makes her think of Charming. Snow finding out that was Regina's heart and all the things she could make her do to pay for the hell she put her family through. Then Charming pulling her out of the darkness with his light and tales of the future together. Snow drunk on whiskey is so funny! If I wasn't already a mess with tonight being the series finale, I have to wait for dvd though :(, I am so much more emotional now. You are amazing. I love your stories. Thanks so much for sharing your talent.**

I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate the time you take to review my stories. (Also, please do me a favor and don't drag god in my silly little tale.)

 **Austenphile chapter 10 More great insight into Snow's thoughts. I love that Charming could hear her and that she could even talk with him when she was unconscious. And nice use of the conversation that Snowing had when Snow wanted to kill Cora. Sometimes Charming knows Snow better than she knows herself. Even when he can't remember.**

Thank you so much.

 **GreenDragonMage chapter 10 More, you can,I love this.I will eagerly wait for the next update.**

I made it I wrote more! :)


	12. Chapter 12

I wake up in our new bedroom. Once again it takes me a minute to remember where I am. So many things happened yesterday. We helped Ella give birth, I made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, David found a way to void my deal, we moved into the new house. I stretch and I reach for David. He s not here. I throw on the first thing that I find, a white shirt he wore yesterday and I set out to look for him. I find him in the kitchen, standing in front of the gas stove staring at it.  
"You are up!" he smiles. "I was going to make breakfast but I couldn't figure this out. I know the answer is not to set it on fire..."  
I smile.  
"Not unless you want the house to explode! Here." I push in the button in, until the stove lights up.  
"Well, that wasn't too hard," he replies. "Are you hungry?"  
"Starving."  
He puts a frying pan on the lit stove and cracks in some eggs. Then he picks me up and places me on the kitchen counter next to the stove.  
"Good morning," he whispers and he kisses me.  
"You are going to burn your eggs," I smile.  
"And whose fault is that?" he says looking at my bare legs.  
"Your fault," I laugh.  
"My fault," he concedes. "What are we doing today?"  
"No, don't start the day yet," I mumble.  
His turn to laugh. "Alright, I'll burn some bacon too, blame that one on you and we can go, not start the day on the couch. Or the kitchen table, whichever you prefer. Is the front door locked?" he asks.  
"Yes!"  
"Good'

Two hours later I'm laying on the couch, munching on cold eggs.  
"If we are going to actually live on a farm we should start the day earlier," David says.  
"Hey, I'm a retired old woman, you get up early and farm, or milk or shepherd or do whatever you like, I'll just stay home and have your babies."  
"Old woman? Can't use that excuse any more" he laughs.  
"Excuse? It's true! I get a retirement check to prove it."  
"There's a mirror right there that will tell you otherwise. Babies? How many babies are we talking about?"  
"At least ten of them, but I will train all of them to sleep in" I laugh. "They can fight about who gets our kingdom."  
"That's easy. Emma does. And then Henry."  
"See, we solved all our royal succession problems already."  
"We are going to need a bigger house."  
"Fine, let's start with five babies."  
"Five 'sleeping in' babies, coming right up" he says and pulls me in closer.  
"Okay, good," I mumble, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. "It's not time to start the day yet, is it?" I ask.  
"No! Not yet.'  
"Good."

It's about four'o clock and I'm cooking in the kitchen. David and Emma and Henry are outside playing with our brand new sweet looking dog that we picked up from the animal shelter.  
Emma walks in the kitchen and looks at me.  
"Mom, is this okay?" she asks.  
"Is what okay?" I smile at her.  
"This," she points at me,"you, in a farm cooking, I'm used to you in uniform catching bad guys, this is too different...I never thought you wanted to do this."  
"Do what?"I ask. Clearly she is bothered by something but I'm not getting what she means.  
"Is this what you wanted to be doing? Live in a farm...? Is this is who you wanted to be?"  
I see where this is going.  
"This is where I am and what I am doing, but this isn't who I am," I smile at her.  
"How can you tell between the two?"she asks.  
I shrug and I take a deep breath.  
"Well, I was born a fairy tale princess. Nobody asked me if I wanted to be a princess. Then I was a bandit, again not by choice but by necessity. I led a war and I was almost a queen. Again, I did't really have a choice. My people needed me to step up, they needed me to rescue them from an Evil Queen. So I did that. I became that. Then the curse hit us. I became your mother in the real world. And I loved being your mother. I became a police officer. I didn't really want to do that, but I needed to do that to find your father. Now I get to live here with your father and if the current villains hold still long enough, maybe we can catch our breath. This second chance Emma, is a gift. I get to do that. I am Snow White and I'm a princess, and a bandit and a queen, a mother, a wife, a grandmother, a police officer and maybe even a farmer's wife. Every day is a gift. So to answer your question, yes I am absolutely okay with this. I am delighted and grateful not just okay with it. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"  
"I think so," Emma replies but she still looks so uncertain.  
"What is this really about honey? Is something bothering you?"  
"Neal has asked me for a second chance. He wants to move in together. And I know Henry will be ecstatic about it, but I'm not sure if I can go through that again."  
"And what do you want?" I ask.  
"That's just it. I don't know..."  
"I think you do."  
"I want to move in with Neal," she says looking down. "And I wish I was strong and independent enough to stay away from him..."  
"What does strength have to do with it?" I ask all confused.  
"I should stay away. I shouldn't give him a chance to hurt me again."  
"Has he accepted responsibility for his actions?"  
"Yes."  
"And has he ever been verbally or physically abusive?"  
"No, of course not Mom, this is Neal we are talking about."  
"Just making sure, honey. Look in your case staying with him takes as much strength as it takes to walk away from him. Tell him all that. Tell him you'll try to stay with him, with a condition of absolute honesty, and if he keeps things from you again, then you will be officially done."  
"Can I invite him for dinner?"  
"Of course!"  
David walks in the room. "Do you need help?" he asks.  
"Do you want to set the table?" I ask.  
"Sure. Emma are you alright?"  
"I thinks so. Dad, if you could be anywhere or do anything, if you had a choice, where would you be?"  
"Anywhere? I'd like to see Boston, and see what you guys were up to without me. And then I think I'd like to stay home for a while."  
"Home, as in the Enchanted Forest?"  
"I don't really remember the Enchanted Forest. No, home as in wherever you and Henry and your Mother are."  
"That's really sweet Dad."  
"I want to be in the Enchanted Forest. Except with robots so they can fight villains for me," Henry says brightly and Emma laughs.  
"That's a great idea kiddo," she replies. "How about you Mom? What if you could be anywhere?"  
"Anywhere? I'd take your Dad on a trip around the world. And then I don't know. I'll have to think about this for a while. Speaking of trips, I should go to Boston, get the rest of my stuff, bring my car back. We can't keep borrowing your bug Emma."  
David looks at me. He knows I really don't want to leave Storybrooke.  
"I have a couple of days off, coming up on the weekend, we could do it then," Emma replies.  
I nod and I feel sick to my stomach.  
"Are you alright Mom?"  
"I'm fine," I say and I look at the black leather cuff on David's hand.  
"Dad is here!" Henry yells and runs outside.  
"Wish me luck," Emma says as she heads slowly outside.  
"Luck for what? What's going on?" David asks.  
"I think maybe Emma has decided whether she will give Neal a second chance."  
"Did she tell you what she will do?"  
"Not exactly."  
Henry is the kitchen feeding the dog treats. I wash a bowl to put my salad in. I watch out the kitchen window as Emma smiles at Neal and he holds her in closer and hugs her tight. I can see his shoulders shaking. He is crying. Then she pulls back and kisses his tear drenched cheeks. She smiles brightly.  
David comes over with a towel to dry the salad bowl and he catches me watching them.  
"Hey, give them a minute, don't watch!" he whispers playfully, and then he sees me all teary eyed and he looks all worried. "Snow! What's wrong?"  
"Nothing is wrong. I need to stop watching...It's just that I used to go to the park and watch couples be with each other, and I'd try to remember what it felt like to have you within reach..." I reply.  
David nods and he pulls me in closer.  
"I can't go to Boston. I can't leave you here. Does that make me a coward?"  
"No it doesn't."  
"Don't lie!"  
"If that makes you a coward then I'm a coward too because I don't want you leaving either."  
"Really? Well you are definitely not a coward, you are one of the bravest people I know!You are definitely my hero, in this and any other realm. Do you think that we'll ever be able to act like normal people?"  
"Do we care?" he asks nibbling on my ear, and I laugh.  
And then I pull back and look at him.  
"What is it?" he asks.  
"You know how Emma just asked us what we really want?"  
"Yes."  
"And you know how you were born a shepherd and I was born a princess and we really didn't have much choice in the matter?"  
"Yes."  
"What if that's what we need to do with Regina and Rumpelstiltskin?"  
"What? I don't follow. Give them choices?"  
"Not exactly. Well sort of. We have one thing that they really want. Or we think they want. What if we sit them down and ask them, what it is that they actually want? What are they hoping to gain by casting the curse or by breaking it?"  
"It's worth a try."  
"Would they tell us?"  
"Not at first, but they might eventually. We are the only ones that have magic at the moment, right?"  
"Right."  
"So we have two things that they each probably want."  
"And what if Regina says that she just want me dead?"  
"I doubt she'd dare say that now that she doesn't have magic. I'll keep you safe."  
I nod. Yes he will. He's been keeping me safe forever. I touch the black leather cuff on his wrist and I smile.  
"Thank you!"

Emma shows up to our house early on Saturday morning.  
"What exactly do you need me to do Mom?" she asks.  
"Do a moving sale, get rid of everything. If you can just bring me my clothes, my photo albums and my car. As soon as you are done I'll call my landlord and tell him I've moved out."  
"Sounds easy enough. I can get that done."  
"I feel awful having you do this."  
"No Mom, don't say that. You've done so many things for me all these years. Not wanting to get away from Dad is pretty reasonable considering all you've been through. Are you okay to drive me to the bus station?" she asks.  
"Yes,"I say but the truth is that I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it.  
Emma and I get in the yellow bug and I drive Emma to the bus depot in the next town. Storybrooke has a bus stop, but buses never stop here, they don't even cross through.  
As I drive by the "Leaving Storybrooke" sign I feel my heart beat increase and my body break in cold sweat. I try not to let it show but Emma keeps casting worried glances in my direction.  
"See you later Mom," Emma says and she kisses my forehead.  
"Thank you so much for doing this!" I reply.  
My hands are shaking as turn around to drive back to Storybrooke.  
I pull my phone out and call David.  
"Hello?" I hear David's voice on the speakerphone.  
"Hi!" I reply and I feel so relieved I could cry.  
"Is everything alright?"  
"Not really."  
"How far away are you?"  
"About thirty minutes."  
"What's wrong?"  
"Stay on the phone with me alright?"  
"Of course."  
"What if I can't find my way back to Storybrooke?" I ask and I feel tears streaming down my face.  
"Then I'll break the curse and come find you," I hear David's decisive voice on the other line.  
"Do you promise?"  
"I promise."  
We both stay quiet on the line for a minute then I ask.  
"David? Are you still there"  
"Yes."  
"Tell me something I don't know about you."  
"Anything?"  
"Anything."  
"Hmm, lets see. something you don't know...you know everything there is to know, you pretty much know about me more than I know about myself... Alright, here's something you don't know. Do you remember our first night awake in the abandoned farmhouse back when you wouldn't tell me who I was?"  
"How could I forget that?"  
"At night you sat on the bed to check on me and you fell asleep? Do you remember?"  
"I remember."  
"Well I laid you down next to me and then you rolled over right in my arms..."  
"Yes?"  
The line stays quiet for a few seconds.  
"And I was so happy, Snow, I cried," he says and I can hear his voice pulsing with emotion.  
"David!" I whisper.  
Welcome to Storybrooke, the sign on the road reads and I'm so relieved I let out a sob.  
"What's wrong?" he asks.  
"I just got back into Storybrooke, I crossed the town line"  
"You did?"  
"Stay on the phone, please, stay with me..."  
"Of course."  
I drive the yellow bug on our driveway and I jump out in a hurry. I rush to the house to find David sitting at the front porch.  
"You are back!" he smiles and I rush into his arms so violently he almost topples over.  
"I'm home," I reply.

It's Monday morning. David is out walking the dog and I'm drinking coffee in the kitchen, when Emma barges in our new house.  
"You are back" I smile. "How did it go?"  
"Mom, come on out, I have a surprise for you" Emma smiles.  
I put my coffee cup down and I follow her outside.  
There's a U-Haul truck parked in our driveway.  
"I decided that I should save some of your things. So I brought your recliner and your porch swing, and your books and your picture frames and your tea set. And your nice big comfortable couch."  
"Emma! You didn't have to do all that. How did you manage? And how are we going to bring my car over?"  
"Oh, I got some help. Your car should be driving up any minute."  
"Who is driving it?"  
"I was going to tow it behind the U-haul but then I met Jim and Paul and they volunteered to help."  
"Jim and Paul are here?" I ask and part of me cringes because of my half drunk confession to David the other night.  
"Yes! They jumped at the chance to see you."  
"Really?" I ask. Because my life back in Boston feels like it's just so far away. Like it's been years not just a few weeks since I moved to Storybrooke.  
But there's no time to discuss any of this because my car shows up driven by Paul followed by Jim in his own car.  
All of a sudden our driveway is full of cars and people.  
"Mary Margaret!" Paul jumps out of my car smiling. "Here you go!" he tosses my car keys at me and I grab them. "Hey, what did you do to your face? Did you discover the fountain of youth or something?"  
Jim steps out of his car.  
"Mary Margaret!" he practically yells. "How is country life treating you?"  
"Too early to tell. We just moved here three days ago," I smile. "Thank you so much for doing this."  
"Anything for you, Mary Margaret," Paul replies looking at me and I look away.  
"Are you guys thirsty? Can I get you something to drink?"  
"What do you have? Freshly squeezed lemonade?" Jim teases.  
"I have coffee and water," I reply laughing.  
"I'll take some water," Jim replies.  
"Come on in," Emma says and Jim follows her inside.  
Paul takes a step closer towards me."You know, Mary Margaret, work hasn't been the same without you. I was thinking now that we are no longer working together maybe I could...-"  
I shake my head before he gets a chance to finish his sentence.  
"Why not?" he asks and he looks frustrated.  
Emma and Jim are back outside.  
"Are we ever going to meet that husband of yours?" Jim asks.  
And then I see David, tall and broad shouldered, coming up from the end of the road, all relaxed, our new dog running by his side and my heart swells up with love and joy. He seems to be enjoying himself.  
"There he is!" I whisper and my eyes well up.  
David looks surprised at all the cars parked on the driveway and if he notes the two guys staring at him, he doesn't let on. He climbs up to me on the porch, kisses my cheek then turns around.  
"What did I miss?"  
The guys look at David then they look at each other. They both look very surprised almost stunned.  
"This is Paul and Jim from work," I reply. "They helped Emma bring some of my stuff over."  
"Thank you," David replies.  
"So, you are real then...David, right?" Paul replies and offers David his hand and I wonder if he even meant to say any of this out loud.  
"Am I real?" David frowns looking at Paul.  
"Mary Margaret told us she was married but then we never saw you, so we thought that she made you up, to keep the guys from asking her out all the time," Jim offers."And then she said you were a great sword fighter. So then we thought for sure she was making you up."  
"Wait, she told me you were a great archer. Which one is it?" Paul asks.  
"Both," Emma replies brightly.  
"Won't you come inside?" David invites them but Paul shakes his head.  
"No, the drive was longer than I expected," he says. "We better go."  
Jim looks at Paul just a little confused, then he shrugs.  
"Thanks for your help " I say one more time.  
"Good luck Mary Margaret," Paul replies and just like that the guys are gone.  
"That was a little weird. I thought they'd stick around for a while," Emma replies and disappears into the house.  
David looks at me and he has a funny smile on his face.  
"What is it?" I ask.  
"You were telling the land without magic people about me!" he replies.  
"I was bragging," I smile back. "I talked a lot about you at first...then I stopped. It was just too painful..." and then I pull him towards me and I kiss him and Emma who's just stepped back out on the porch groans.  
"I thought we talked about this," she mumbles. "So Mom, what do you want to do? Should we unload the truck? I have to take it back."  
"Are we concerned at all that Jim and Paul saw me looking younger? Are we concerned about keeping Storybrooke and its secrets safe?" I ask.  
"No, the way Neal explained it to me as soon as they drive off they won't really remember much of anything that we talked about," Emma replies.  
"I don't know," David says looking at me. "Your mother is hard to forget..."  
Emma calls Grumpy and Graham and Neal, and Red and the U-haul gets unloaded in no time.  
Granny pulls up with sandwiches. "Is anybody hungry?" she asks.  
They sit around chatting on our porch and our living room, laughing and joking around. I look around at how my Enchanted Forest friends have integrated themselves here in our home, in the land without magic.  
Grumpy plops himself on the couch.  
"Emma is right. This is a comfortable couch. What do we do next, Snow?" Grumpy asks. "What's the plan?"  
"I'm still figuring this out Leroy" I reply. "Now, I think I invite our main villains for a talk."

"What are we doing here?" Regina asks, tapping her high heel impatiently on the ground.  
"Don't be so impatient dearie. Let the Princess talk!" Rumpelstiltskin gives her a sarcastic smile.  
We are sitting at a table at Granny's. David and I decided that this meeting should happen on our terms and since we don't want Regina and Rumpelstiltskin anywhere near our farm we asked Granny to close early and let us use the diner.  
"We asked you here because we want to know what you want. Regina you cast this curse, to get revenge, and you succeeded in keeping us separated for twenty eight years. Rumpelstiltskin I know you didn't accidentally come over. You got in this land on purpose and I still haven't figured out why. But I will. So, I am going to give both of you a chance. Tell me. If you could have anything or be anything what would you want to be? Where would you want to be?"  
"What is this about?" Regina glares at me. "Did you discover a magic lamp and you are handing out wishes? Is that how you got younger again?"  
"I might have something you really want Regina. But I need to know, clearly you are sick of this curse, you admitted to trying to find a way to break it, so if you could have anything, what would it be?"  
"Other than your heart, Snow White?" she asks and David glares at her in warning. "What do you have? What could you possibly have that I want?"  
I hand her a piece of paper. She opens it and reads what I've written inside it then she stands up so fast her chair topples over.  
"What? How? Where did you get it?" she asks glaring at me and David. Rumpelstiltskin is leaning forward, trying to guess really hard what we are talking about.  
"We got it from you, when we raided your vault," I reply.  
"NO!" she is practically screaming. "That's not possible. I would have known. How could I miss that? How do you know?"  
"Pudding with pink sprinkles!" I reply and she gasps.  
"What do you want from me?" she asks and her face is deathly white.  
"No, it's the opposite. What do you want? You cast this curse, you had your fun. You don't really know how to break it, but you could give us all the information you have on it. Regina, what do you want? Who do you want to be?"  
And when she looks at me shaking her head I add "you don't have to answer me right now. Think about it"  
Regina stands up, still shaking her head and she storms out of Granny's.  
"That went well! You are really good at diplomacy dearie." Rumpelstiltskin smiles. "What do you want with me?"  
"Same thing," I reply. "What do you want?"  
"Well I'm certainly not going to tell you that, am I?"  
"But do you know what you want? Regina wanted revenge, and that is kind of an abstract thing. What do you want? If you could be with anyone or anywhere, where would you be?" I ask again.  
And then David turns around and looks at Rumpelstiltskin.  
"I'll tell you what I want. I want to be with Snow, Emma and Henry. I don't care where or when. I don't care of I get my memories back or not, if I live in the Enchanted forest or the land Without Magic, if I'm a prince or a poor farmer. They are all I want."  
And in a rare moment of honesty Rumpelstiltskin turns to David. "The woman I love is long dead and gone," he replies, "my son is missing. I don't think you can get me what I want dearie."  
I look at David. I can't give Rumplestiltskin any information about Neal, not without Neal's permission.  
"Thank you for telling us," I say quietly. "I might be able to help you, but I need some time," I reply.  
"Help me? How?" he asks.  
I know better than to answer with specifics. "I'll get back to you," I reply.  
We get up ad as we head out David turns and looks at Rumpelstiltskin.  
"The woman you lost. What was her name?" he asks quietly.  
"What difference does it make? She is long gone."  
"Saying things out loud makes a big difference, some times," David replies.  
"Belle, her name was Belle," Rumpelstiltskin replies and he looks down in what I consider a very rare show of emotion.  
"And she was what? A princess?"David asks.  
"The princess of the western kingdom," Rumpelstiltskin says quietly.  
"You said 'a brief flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness.'" David muses.  
"You remember," he says and then he notices the black cuff sticking out of David's sleeve. "And you already freed your wife. Of course you did. One of this days you are going to have to let me in on your secrets dearie!"  
David holds my hand and we step out of Granny's.  
"We need to talk to Neal," he says.

Neal's loft is a beautiful. Emma was right, I would have loved living here, except for the lack of privacy, of course.  
"Grandma, Grandpa, are you here to see my new room?" Henry asks. He pulls David upstairs to show him his bedroom.  
"This is the cutest loft ever," I tell Neal who smiles.  
"Emma likes it," he replies.  
"So we just had a chat with your father."  
"I'm afraid to ask," Neal says.  
"Have you seen him or talked to him since you've been here?"  
"Sure, Mr Gold checked out a couple of books from the library, a few days ago. We talked. He has no idea who I am."  
"Didn't he recognize you?" I ask.  
"Last time he saw me I was thirteen years old. It's been a very long time since then."  
"Well, I don't know what to do. Do you want to talk to him?"  
"Honestly? I'm not sure if I'm ready, but it seems inevitable right? That's why I'm here, so you can use me as leverage."  
"Neal! I am so uncomfortable with this whole situation. I don't want to use you as leverage. I don't want to put you in danger!"  
"My father wouldn't hurt me, not intentionally. If anything, everybody around me would be in danger, if my father thought I was being mistreated. He turned people into bugs just for accidentally bumping into me when I was a child. No, whatever trauma he caused wasn't intentional" he replies.  
"Well, we'll see. I don't know what to do about any of this."  
"If you are going to use me as leverage, you should do it now, Mom. Regina is not going to hesitate, and then who knows what will happen if those two are pitted against each other!"  
"You are right," I reply.  
David is joining us now.  
"Have you ever heard of a princess named Belle? From the Western kingdom?" David asks Neal.  
"No, I can't say that I have. She must have been a princess after my time. Why do you ask?"  
"Because she seems to be the one woman your father truly loved. His answer for who he wanted to be with was his son and Belle. He said she is long dead and gone."  
"So my father was able to feel love for someone, other than me," Neal says shaking his head. "A princess? Are you sure?"  
"Yes."  
"And did she love him back?" Neal asks.  
"I think so, yes," David replies.  
Neal shakes his head.  
"It's hard to believe that anyone could love my father while he was the dark one."  
"Why, because of all the crocodile skin?" David asks.  
I gasp. "You remember!" I say.  
"Do I?"  
I nod."David, we need to go. There's something I want to try," I say.  
We say goodbye to Neal and Henry and then I drag David to the beach next to the port.  
"What are we doing here?" he asks.  
"Where is the cave we came out of the other day? After we got lost in the tunnels?" I ask.  
"Right over there," David points. "Are we going in there?"  
"Yes, I want to access out pocket of magic without going through the library. Especially since both Rumpelstiltskin and Regina are curious about where we get our magic."  
I look around to make sure we are not being followed and then I pull David into the tunnels through the small cave.  
"Do you feel it? Do you feel the magic yet?" I ask.  
"I don't know, I can't tell."  
"Kiss me, kiss me and try to remember," I whisper.  
David caresses my hair, strokes my cheek.  
"Snow," he whispers and then he cups my face and I'm lost in his kiss.  
"Remember, please, please, remember" I say over and over in my head as he kisses me and then I feel it, I feel a curtain of darkness ripple and all sort of images flooding in. I'm giving birth, Emma's first cry, I'm hanging up in a net replying 'Charming suits you', David taking an arrow to the chest, David yelling 'I will always find you.' I keep my eyes closed and let the images wash through me, I stand perfectly still, my heart beating wildly, his lips still on mine and then he staggers backwards, he leans against the wall and he is breathing so fast, I'm worried that he is going to pass out.  
He opens his eyes slowly and he pulls me in closer. He is holding me close, so tight and I can feel his body wracked up by sobs.  
"I'm sorry," he cries,"I'm so sorry. I don't see how I could forget any of this! I don't see how I could forget you! I'm so sorry."  
"David?' I whisper. I didn't expect this to hurt him. "None of this is your fault!"  
He stands in front of me, his breathing slowing down.  
"I'm alright," he says finally and he is standing upright, breathing slowly. "Snow! I'm alright. I...I think I remember!"  
"Are you hurt?" I ask.  
"I'm fine. It's a lot to take in," he replies. He takes my hand and we step out of the cave.  
There's a small breeze smelling of sea water and he closes his eyes and lets the wind caress his face. He squeezes my hand tight.  
"I feel like I've been stumbling around blindly, this whole time and now I'm finally seeing things clearly!"  
I smile, my eyes welling up with tears. "Welcome back, Charming!"

* * *

Thank you for reading so much. Thank you for taking the time to review. I really appreciate it.

 **Guest chapter 11 You added a wonderful new chapter to your tale. It is so lovely to see Snowing approach every problem as a team. Don't know why Rumple would even try to sow doubt now that they are so united. I love Snow's explanation of why should would never leave David. I enjoyed this episode with Ella/Thomas. I think you are right about the heart. No one had TLK without a heart. I am guessing this is the calm before the storm.**

Thank you. Rumple is always looking for cracks, looking for a way in...

 **baratta jennifer chapter 11 Breathtaking chapter**

thank you! ( ◞･౪･)

 **Austenphile chapter 11 It is fun to see a hopeful Emma. She is a lot more like Henry in this story. And Interesting to see David not as over protective over Emma's relationships. I like they are getting the farmhouse. David can jump straight into being a farmer, skipping the vet clinic and being co sheriff.**

 **The different version of Ella/Ashley was well done. I like the deal Gold made being with Snow. But of course Charming had to find the loophole to free her. The talk with Sean was very moving. So things are going with the happy endings. Can't wait to see what will be next.**

Thank you!  
I think that in order to make David overprotective of Emma and her relationship now he would have to completely mistrust Snow and everything Snow has encouraged Emma to do through the years, right?

 **BooksinMyDreams chapter 11 I love this story and all of your stories so much. Thank you!**

Thank you for reading!

 **Guest chapter 11 Yes wow okay. Firstly Great chapter! Secondly Snowing can't have one calm day, It's always something with those two. Emma's reaction to the younger Snow was so heartfelt. I definitely think they should keep their magical mine a secret for a while now and be a bit more discreet, since not even rumple knows how she got younger and he's not going to be pleased that David switched places with Snow. Nice to see that they have their house now and that you skipped the loft entirely and now they get to create new memories and happy memories. Does rumple know that Neal is in town? Also who Henry's dad is.**

Thank you! I think this chapter covered almost all of your questions.


	13. Chapter 13

David wakes me up, a bright smile on his face.

"What's going on?" I ask, half asleep.  
"I was going to let you sleep in, but I got tired of waiting!" he replies.  
"Waiting for what?"  
"Get up!" he says and he shakes me playfully.  
"I'm up, I'm up, you know, we could play without me being fully awake. I'm all for that," I say sitting up slowly.  
"What? That's not why I'm waking you up for! What kind of freshly awakened husband do you take me for?" he asks frowning and I laugh.  
"They playful kind?" I offer smiling and he laughs.  
"Yes, you got me there, but not yet."  
He is behaving so strange and he is so exited I get up and follow him downstairs. I enter the kitchen and then I gasp. Because there are three different flower bouquets and lit candles and a really large pancake breakfast, on the table that is already set.  
"What's going on? What's all this for?" I ask.  
"What's going on?" he asks. "I'm awake, now. And I've missed twenty eight anniversaries, give or take, and I haven't given you flowers or done anything like this forever, and I also learned how to light the stove," he shrugs smiling and I pull him in closer and I kiss him long enough to make up for at least five wedding anniversaries. And then I look around.  
"How did you do all this? It's only eight 'o clock in the morning!"  
"Maybe I got up at six and drove downtown. And maybe I woke up the florist because their store wasn't open yet. And maybe my daughter pulled me over with her police car and said if she ever catches me driving your car on my own without a licence again she is going to arrest me. "  
I laugh so hard then I sit down at the table.  
"You've been very busy this morning!"  
"I also named the dog Wilby. I hope you don't mind."  
"No, of course not."  
"He reminds me of a dog I had, a long time ago,back in the Enchanted forest..."  
"Aw, you remember! And you did make enough pancakes for ten anniversary breakfasts."  
"You need to keep up your strength for what is coming up next," he smiles his most innocent of smiles.  
"What's coming up next?" I ask.  
"You know exactly what's coming," he replies and I laugh.  
"Twenty eight times?" I ask.  
"Maybe!"  
"I missed you Charming!"  
"Good!" he smirks. "Now eat!"

I'm laying in bed, and I'm smiling and I realize that I will spend the rest of the day smiling, no matter what happens. There is a difference. There is a big difference between my David of the last two weeks and my Charming, who knows my body like his own, who knows all the right moves and the right spots and the right things to say. He remembers. He remembers everything. I lay in his arms and I smile, trying to hold back my tears.  
"I'm sorry I forgot," he says one more time and I place my finger on his lips.  
"Not your fault," I whisper.  
"Still sorry," he replies."And I'm sorry you were making love to a stranger this past two weeks," he adds, "even though you made that stranger very happy."  
"Hey, be nice,"I reply. "That stranger kept us together, even though I was trying really hard to set him free."  
"Yes, he did," he smiles contentedly."So, now what?" he asks. "What's our course of action?"  
"So serious! Are we back in business?" I ask.  
"No, I'm just trying to distract you. In case you decide to hold me to that twenty eight times you brought up earlier."  
"After what you just did, I'm not going to hold you to anything. I'm going to spend the rest of the day smiling, agreeing with everything you say."  
He laughs."Really? Agreeing with everything I say? I don't think you have it in you!"  
My turn to laugh."You do remember!" I reply and then he tickles me.

"How are you thinking of doing this?" David asks when we take Wilby for a walk later.  
I sigh. "I don't know. Any ideas?"  
"If we take Regina to the tunnels, there's probably enough magic there, so we can give her her heart back."  
"Yes"  
"But there is also enough magic there, that she can throw fire balls at us or attack you. And you just found me. I just remembered. I'm not ready to risk loosing that!"  
"Me either."  
"How do we do this then?"  
"We are going to have to be very strategic and sneaky about this!"  
My phone rings.  
"Mom?" I hear Neal's voice. "I might have found something! Can you come to the library?"

We walk into the library to see Emma, Neal and Henry pouring over a large old fashioned book.  
"What is this?" I ask.  
"I was cataloging old books I found in a closet when I discovered this. I'm thinking that this might be a census of sorts. Some sort of record of everybody that was brought over with the curse " Neal explains.  
"Curses keep census records?" Emma asks.  
"Not curses," I reply." Witches. This is all in Regina's handwriting."  
"That makes more sense," Emma smiles.  
"Well that will certainly come in handy! Can I borrow this so I can take a better look?" I ask.  
"Wait there's more," Neal says.  
"What is it?"  
"Look on page five. It is a list of all royals that were transferred. Look on the tenth line.  
We all lean in closer. There, under King Midas and Princess Abigail, there's a name written then crossed out. "Belle"  
"What?" I ask all confused "I thought she was dead!"  
"Your father seemed pretty torn up about it!" David adds.  
"What if she is alive?" Emma asks."Maybe Regina wanted Rumpelstiltskin to think Belle was dead."  
"Well if her memories were erased she wouldn't know to look for him, but he is awake. Wouldn't he recognize her? How did he not run into her in the last twenty eight years?" I ask.  
"Could Regina have hidden her somewhere?" Emma asks.  
"Of course she could. Come on, it's time that we pay my stepmother a visit!"  
"Wait!" David replies. "If Regina hid Belle from Rumpelstiltskin, she is not going to just give up her position. She might even kill Belle rather than risk his wrath."  
"You are right. So what are you suggesting we do?"  
"We look for her, on our own. We only ask Regina if we cannot find her."  
"Where could she be?" I ask.

I walk into our living room to see Granny, Ruby, Emma, Henry, Neal, Graham, Leroy, Abigail and Frederick sitting around the table with David making lists. And it warms my heart to see them do this. This looks so much like the old days, Charming with our Court and allies, making plans around the table.  
David gets up to kiss me.  
"There are several places where she could be hidden. There is a woman that lives in the woods as a recluse, she is agoraphobic. But she does get food and books delivered on Fridays. That could be her," David fills me in.  
"That is one of the most optimistic options of where she might be hiding. There or in the Abbey, with the nuns. If she is in the Abbey, because she wants to be there, that's probably alright," Red adds.  
"And if she's held somewhere against her will?" I ask.  
"That's where things get tricky," Granny looks at me above her glasses. "She could be locked in somebody's basement, she could be at the hospital as Jane Doe, or she could be in the mental institution."  
"The mental institution!" I gasp. I cannot imagine what being locked in a mental institution for twenty eight years would do to a person. Then I look at David. Henry is whispering something to him and he smiles. He was alone in the dark for twenty eight years. He survived. That woman Belle, she could survive too. She could start over. David catches me looking at him and smiles.  
"Does anyone want pancakes?" he asks.  
"You have pancakes for dinner?" Emma asks."I'll take some."  
"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, tomorrow's breakfast... we might have made a few extra's this morning..."  
Our friends devour the rest of the pancakes as we make more plans.  
"I'll come with you to the Abbey," Leroy smiles.  
"Since none of us has ever seen Belle, we are doing this by a process of elimination. We have to take a picture of every woman we meet that we don't remember who she used to be in the Enchanted Forest," I explain."Should we reconvene here tomorrow night to discuss our progress?"  
We say good night, Emma kisses me on the cheek and our friends walk out one by one.  
I sit on the porch, in the dark and David joins me.  
"If she is locked up somewhere against her will, how is Rumpelstiltskin going to forgive Regina?" I ask very quietly.  
"I don't know," David replies.  
"I just don't see how any of this will end well..." I mumble and I lay my head on his shoulder. Things are going so well for us and for Emma and Henry. I wish I could pause our story right here. Stay in Storybrooke, declare Henry's operation officially over. I wish I could.  
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asks.  
I shake my head. I don't want to ruin the quiet moment with my doubts and fears.  
He scoops me up in his lap and I close my eyes, because this, this very moment, is where I want my story to end.  
My phone rings.  
I ignore it but it just keeps ringing.  
"Hello?" I ask.  
There is no reply.  
"Hello!?" I ask again.  
"Mary Margaret?" I hear the voice on the other line. It's Paul.  
"Yes? Paul? What is it? Is something wrong?" I ask.  
"Nothing wrong yet," he replies. "But I might have done something awful."  
"What did you do?" I ask.  
"Mary Margret, I always thought that someday, somehow, we'd end up together." .  
"But you've never been single. Not even once. Didn't you and Sheila get engaged?"  
"Still, I always thought...-" he says and I can hear the drawl in his voice  
"Have you been drinking?" I ask.  
"Maybe."  
"What did you do?" I ask firmly.  
"Don't be like this, don't ignore me."  
I stay quiet.  
"If I hadn't been the reason you got shot, would you have given me a chance?"  
"Would my not getting shot change the fact that I am married?" I ask.  
"Yes. No. But your husband is thirty years old. And you, you look young again. Your whole I'm married thing makes no sense...when did you marry him? When he was ten?"  
"What did you do Paul?" I ask.  
"I went drinking last night with Diana from the Boston herald. And I might have told her that I fell in love with Snow White. Because I did a little digging and realized that Mary Margaret Blanchard was a woman who died in the ER twenty eight years ago. And you...when I was helping Emma with the move, I found a notebook that had all these people you were looking for, except they weren't real people, Mary Margaret, they were fairytale characters..."  
"You told Diana all that?"  
"Yes, along with the location of Storybrooke, and how you had gotten younger..."  
I shake my head. I have no words. I squeeze David's hand in mine and I want to go back to five minutes ago, before I picked up the phone, back when I had no idea that Storybrooke was in danger. Diana is a brilliant resilient reporter who loves any kind of story that has a sci-fi ring to it. She is well trusted and liked. If she breaks a story, every channel will be here, within days if not hours. Storybrooke is the exact kind of story she would love to write about.  
"Mary Margaret, I'm so sorry..." he says but I just hang up the phone.  
"What's going on?" David asks.  
"We are in big trouble,"I reply. "We might have just ran out of time."  
I call Emma on the phone.  
"Hi Mom!"  
"Hi Emma. Do me a favor and call Lilly. Ask her to get here as soon as possible. I'don't know how much time we have..."

* * *

Thank you for reading, for replying,for commenting. I appreciate you guys!

 **barrata jennifer chapter 12 Heartpounding chapter  
**  
Thank you!

 **Guest chapter 12 Ms Story, thank you for filling my heart with butterflies, that's it that's the review.**

 **No I'm kidding, I'm actually very happy about the turnout of this chapter! We got all the good stuff. Snowing in their house with Wilby, planning a future together that involves traveling and additions to the family. That emotional phone call, and that David cried the first night. I loved that Snow literally ran out and threw herself on him, I understand the relief and the panic that she had. Also poor Paul thinking he still has a shot, good thing David showed up when he did, even if it was funny. They got the upper hand with Regina and Rumple. But that was only the the icing on the cake to David actually remembering, and you did it justice. I'm loving these kiss fix it's, kissits if you may. To sum it up, it really was a good couple of days for the Charming fam. You put so much passion and feelings into these chapters I'm such a happy reader. The tables are finally turned, I wonder if they'll somehow find themselves in the basement of the hospital to find belle. Also if Regina will try a last attempt to get rid of Snow. Maybe a Neal rumple reunion is in the future too.**

Thank you thank you thank you. Yes they need to find Belle.

 **Guest chapter 12 This was so heartwarming. You write the interaction between Snowing so well. I got a real kick out of Paul and Jim meeting Charming. The memory Charming describes of Snow slepping is his arms was so touching and sniffle inducing. I gather that Regina had stashed her heart as a safety measure? No one was controlling her? Will Belle be found in Storybrooke Hospital psych word? As always will await the next update.**

Hello! Thank you. Also: yes, not quite and probably. :p

 **Austenphilechapter 12 The discussion on what they wanted has me wondering if Snow is going to become a teacher. It is the only canon thing we ever heard her say she wanted to do. It's different in this universe because she was not cursed to teach, but it still suits her.**

 **The scene with Paul was hilarious. Did he really think Snow was only not dating him because they worked together? And did he stay single all those years in hopes of having a chance after she retired? How stalkerish and obsessive is that. Super creepy.**

 **And now they know what Rumple wants. He should be easily satisfied. But Regina is another story. It could get interesting.**

Paul in the end is going to be an accidental villain. Ooops! I totally want her to teach, but so far I haven't found a way to get her there smoothly.

 **SecretLoveCara chapter 12 .Yay, he remembers. Wonder if the whole curse is broke.**

Yay! You are back. I missed your reviews.


	14. Chapter 14

I jump up in the morning and I start getting dressed. David walks in the room.  
"You are already up!" he says and he looks really surprised.  
"We have so many things to do, we need to talk to everyone and ask them to stear clear of the reporter, find Belle, talk to Regina..."  
"Yes, we do," he smiles and he interrupts my long to do list with a kiss. "Are you hungry?"  
"Yes?" I hesitate.  
"Don't worry, it's not pancakes," he replies and I laugh.

Leroy joins us on our way to the Abbey.  
We walk inside and are greeted by a frowning Mother Superior.  
"Blue!" I cry out and I reach for her.  
"Excuse me?"  
"You are the Blue Fairy. You are from a different realm as am I, as is my husband and Grumpy. You were the strongest and most powerful fairy and I need you now, because I have several people that need their hearts back, a pocket of magic and no time to loose," I say and I realize that I'm saying everything too fast and she will probably ask me to leave the premises, but she doesn't.  
"You are Snow White, aren't you?" she says looking at me, sizing me up.  
I nod.  
"I've been waiting for you."  
"You remember?" I ask.  
"I remember nothing. But I've heard about you talking to everyone and I wondered when you'd come, and who you'd say I was," she smiles."I'm afraid I don't remember how to do what you are asking of me, but I'm willing to try."  
I walk around and meet all the women of the Abbey. I recognize all of them, they are all fairies. No sign of Rumpelstiltskin's mystery woman.  
And then out of the blue Leroy walks up to sister Astrid.  
"I want to take you out to dinner," he says.  
She looks at him a half smile, gracing her face.  
"I'm a nun!" she replies.  
"And I'm a dwarf, sister, and I don't care any more!"  
She looks at him, her eyes wide open.  
"What are you saying?"  
"I'm saying that I'm taking you out to dinner, I don't care who you are!" Grumpy says roughly and I wonder if sister Astrid will think that he has lost his mind.  
Sister Astrid smiles.  
"Pick me up at seven?" she asks and now it's Grumpy's turn to be surprised.  
"Really?" he asks.

I walk away from them laughing.  
David and I head to Granny's.  
"It is very important that nobody talks to reporters. Just in case..." I start saying to Granny and Red.  
"Too late!" Red says pointing to the blond woman sitting on a both with king George.

"And then she usurped my throne," King George says "and turned my own son against me... People think Snow White is a hero, but really she is a villainous as they come..."  
"What? How is this even possible? When did this happen?" I ask.  
"About half an hour ago. She asked to talk to whoever is in charge here and he was happy to oblige."  
"Who told DA Spencer that he is king George?" David asks.  
"I have no idea. Look ever since you started taking to people, I see more and more people, people you haven't even talked to, aware of who they are. They don't remember much, but they are aware" Red replies.  
"That would be great news if King George wasn't talking to the reporter! We are too late!" I say.  
"I might have seen him walk out of Mr Gold's earlier," Granny adds.  
"I need to have a word with him," David frowns and that's when king George turns and points right at me.  
"There she is right now. That's Snow White!"  
The reporter looks at me and she gets up of the table. She places a smartphone right in front of me.  
"Hello Mary Margaret!" she smiles. "Or is it Snow White? Are you a retired cop? Is it true that you are telling these people that you are a fairytale princess?"  
I stand there frozen my eyes wide open. What do I say?  
If you want people to believe that they are from different realm, if you want them to believe that they are heroes, meant to do great things you have to be honest with them at all times. I cannot go on record and deny everything. Then again if I tell her the truth then Storybrooke will be swarming with reporters and it will be come a theme park. It will never be the same again.  
"What is it exactly that you are asking me?" I try to stall.  
"You heard me," she smiles. "Are you a fairytale princess?"  
"Are you publishing the story in the Boston Herald?" I ask.  
"Does it matter where the story is going? The people deserve to know the truth! Are you an impostor taking advantage of these people? Are you asking them for money? Are they part of a mass delusion? Are you starting a cult?"  
I stand there completely stamped as her questions get more and more outrageous. I frantically search my mind for a vague enough answer that will satisfy this woman. I got nothing.  
David pulls me away.  
"Let's go," he says once we are well out of earshot."There's no right answer for this."  
We step out of Granny's.  
Emma calls me on the phone. "Graham and I visited the recluse that lives in the end of the forest. "  
"And?"  
"And she used to be a sea witch. She remembers everything. She is not Belle."  
"Really?"  
"Yes Mom."  
"Well then we are probably looking at one of the more sinister options... Also, the reporter is here, talking to George!"  
"Oh, no! What are we going to do? she asks.  
"I have no idea," I reply. Things are unraveling too fast. This isn't how things were supposed to go.  
"Where to next?" David asks.  
"The worse option possible," I reply."The Storybrooke psych ward."

The Storybrooke psych ward is located in the basement of the Hospital and it is the stuff nightmares are made of. Small padded rooms underground, no windows, no natural light. I sudder to think of anyone stuck here for the past twenty eight years.  
"First of all, I can't give you any information due to patient doctor confidentiality rules," the nurse on shift says.  
"Really?" I ask impatiently. I do not have time for this. "What's the doctor's name?"  
"Dr William " the nurse says pointing to the picture on her desk. I look at the people pictured there. I see Dr Whale, who I still cannot place, several nurses and Dr William.  
"Wait, I know that guy," David replies. "Dr William was a court jester for king Midas."  
I'm so relieved David remembers him because I'm drawing a blank.  
"Well then," I take over,"he is not a real psychiatrist, now please, tell me who do you have locked in here?"  
The woman glares at me."I don't know who you think you are Snow White, barging in here doubting the doctor's credentials but I'm not telling you anything!"  
"You are Moira," I reply. "The fairy who stole babies on behalf of the Black Fairy and disappeared when she got found out. Hand me the keys or I will call Blue and she'll deal with you!"  
The nurses face goes white and she hands me the keys from her pocket. She grabs her purse and she walks out of the psych ward as fast as she can.  
"Shall we?" I ask.  
Turns out that the psych ward is mainly empty.  
David opens the rooms one by one and then on the last room he opens we find a woman sitting on the floor, with big blue eyes and dark hair. If you take into account that she's been locked in here for twenty eight years, she is a real beauty.  
"Belle?" David asks."Princess Belle?"  
She blinks a couple of times and she looks at him then she looks at me.  
She tries to talk, but her voice doesn't come out at first. Then she coughs.  
"You shouldn't be here. I'm very dangerous. I need to be locked up."  
"What's your name?" I ask.  
"I don't know. It doesn't matter. I am too dangerous, I can't be around people," she says and her hands begin to shake.  
"Who told you that?" I ask using my most soothing voice.  
"She said I killed everybody around me...you can't be here...please, go...please! I'm begging you..."  
Our presence here is agitating her rather than making her feel better. We step out of her room.  
"They didn't bother telling her her name but they told her she is a murderer?" David asks."What do we do?"  
"Call Archie or Rumpelstiltskin?" I reply.  
"Not Rumpelstiltskin. At least, not yet. If she is Belle and he sees her in this condition, there is no telling what he will do. Call Archie."  
Archie shows up really fast. He walks in the room alone, he talks to the woman, trying to soothe her. Then he calls down a nurse, asks her to give her a sedative and has her moved to a room upstairs, away from the psych ward. As the nurse moves past me I wink at David and I point to the nurses direction with my head.  
"Excuse me!" David says and he smiles at the nurse, "I had the pleasure of staying at the hospital for a while and I have a few questions..."  
The nurse smiles and while she is busy talking to David, I reach out and grab the sedative from her pocket.  
"Thank you so much," David says and the nurse walks away.  
"Good job Charming!" I whisper.  
"Resorting to banditry, are we?" he whispers back.  
I have a lot more to say on the subject of charm and banditry but Archie turns to us, a very concerned look on his face.  
"I don't understand," he asks. "Do you recognize this woman?"  
"I do not. But I have a very strong suspicion of who she might be."  
"Somebody drilled it in her mind that she is dangerous. It will take me a long time to get to the bottom of this."  
"Maybe we don't have to get to the bottom of this. If we break the curse, won't she go back to her normal self?" David asks.  
I nod."You are right. " I sigh. "But if Rumpelstiltskin sees her like this, he is going to seek revenge against Regina before he does anything else, before he he tells us how to break the curse...What do you think Archie?"  
"I don't know. Does she know Rumpelstiltskin? A familiar face might help speed up her recovery. Give me a day to talk to her, let her rest in these new surroundings and then we can decide," he replies.  
I shake my head. "I don't even know how much time we have. There is a reporter in town asking weird questions about fairytales..."  
"Even so, sort of using magic, she is going to need time." Archie replies.  
"Alright," David says. "See what you can do today and we'll talk again tomorrow."

My phone rings again.  
"Lilly is in town Mom!" I hear Emma's voice."Meet us at the library."  
"We are on our way."  
We meet Emma, Graham, Red, Neal and Lilly at the library.  
Lilly is looking good, she is wearing her usual dark hoodie, her eyes are glowing and she seems both nervous and excited.  
"I have waited for this moment my entire life, Snow" she says. "I hope this works."  
"It's going to work," Sheriff Graham says and Lilly turns around to get a better look at him.  
"Who are you?" she asks.  
He points to the badge in his belt.  
"I'm a huntsman really," he says " curse pretending to be a sheriff."  
"What do you like to hunt?" she says taking a step closer to him. Her eyes are glowing, her cheeks are flushed. I've never seen Lilly like this before..  
Graham looks at her closely, a halfsmile on his face and doesn't reply.  
"Have you ever hunted a dragon?" she asks and again he looks at her and doesn't reply.  
I want to explain the plan to them, but I do not want to interrupt, whatever this is. Lilly and Graham then. Why not? She deserves happiness after all that she's been through. But he needs his heart in order for any of this to work. I glance at Red. She is looking at them, eyebrows raised an incredulous look on her face.  
"So, what is the plan, Mom?" Emma asks.  
"Let'stalk about this down there,"I reply pointing to the elevator.  
Neal helps us all in the elevator and he lowers us down.

"Alright," I explain."We think that this tunnel is a pocket full of magic. The first thing we want to try and do is to give Sheriff Graham back his heart. Red, did you bring it?"  
Red opens up the bag in her hand and pulls out Graham's heart.  
I look at it and I look at Graham.  
"I've never done this before," I say and I hesitate, then I have an idea. "Lilly? Your mother is a powerful witch. Chances are that you've inherited some of her powers. Would you like to try?"  
"What do I do?" she asks and she takes Graham's heart from Red's hands.  
She looks at his heart, pulsing, beating inside her hand, and then she turns to face him. I'm not sure if its the air of the tunnels affecting her or if she is a natural, but Lilly know what to do next. She raises his heart to her lips and she whispers something, none of us can hear, but I know Graham hears it because his eyes get wider and there's a thin line of a smile on his face.  
Lilly holds his heart with both hands and she takes a step closer.  
"Ready?" she whispers and he nods.  
She takes a deep breath and pushes his heart into his chest with both hands. There's a flash of red light and Graham takes a step back and groans, then he bends over panting.  
She takes a step forward and places her hand on his shoulder.  
"Breathe!' she says and he does. He takes a deep breath, looking at her.  
"Again,"she says, her voice confident and commanding. "Don't panic, keep your eyes on me and breathe!"  
He looks at her and nods, he then takes deep breaths over and over and he stands up straight.  
"Did I hurt you?" she whispers and he shakes his head.  
"I'm alright," he says, mostly to her and she breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you!"  
"Anytime," Lilly smiles, an unmistakable invitation in her voice and Graham looks at her again.

"So far so good," I say trying to get back to the plan. "Now Emma, take this," I say and I take off my ring and hand it to her.  
She places my ring on her finger. There is a faint glow on it.  
"This ring was enchanted along time ago. You say out loud who it is you are looking for and the ring will glow. It will lead you to Maleficent. And when you get there Lilly, talk to her, tell her who you are, ask her to come out of the tunnels with you. This should work."  
Lilly nods.  
"The tunnels are very confusing." David explains. "Be very careful. Do not try to remember your way out. When you are ready to come out wish to find your mother, and the ring will lead you out of the tunnels so you can get to her. You know what, it's better if I come along!"  
Emma shakes her head.  
"That wasn't in the plan Dad! Lilly and I got it. Mom needs you!"  
"If my Mom is mad at you, it's better if you are not the first person she sees anyway," Lilly replies.  
"Fine, take this," David concedes and hands Emma his sword.  
"Dad! I'm not going to use a sword on her mother!" Emma replies and now Lilly is really glaring at him.  
"Just in case...-" he says but now both Emma and Lilly are staring him down, so he shrugs and he steps back.  
"Good luck!" I smile.  
Lilly turns to Graham. "You are coming too, right?"  
"Of course," he replies.  
"Good," Lilly smiles.  
"Alright," Red says,"Call us as soon as you are out."  
Emma looks at the ring and smiles. "Alright this is really weird. Magic ring," she says using a very dramatic tone of voice,"I wish to find Maleficent!"  
I roll my eyes. "No need for the theatrics," I try to say, " but the ring glows brighter now. Emma and Lilly gasp excitedly and they follow the glow.  
"I should go first,"Graham tries to say.  
Lilly turns to look at him.  
"No!" she states simply and she takes off.  
Graham follows them, a big smirk on his face.

David, Red and I get back in the elevator.  
"I really hope this works," Red says.  
I look at her.  
"Are you okay with all of this?" I ask.  
"Yes," she smiles. Then she adds, "Lilly is not very subtle is she?"  
David laughs. "No."  
I look at Red all concerned. I thought a sensed a spark between her and Graham a while ago. I wonder how she is feeling now with Lilly now in the picture.  
And then Red looks at me."Stop looking at me like this, Snow. I like him, but he is not really my type. I like them handsome and broody but I need someone who says more than three words a week!"  
And that very accurate description of Sheriff Graham makes me laugh.  
"I just wanted to make sure that you are okay," I reply.  
"I'll be fine," she shrugs.  
As soon as we are back in the library we pull Neal to the side.  
"There is a reporter in Storybrooke!"  
"I know, Emma told me."  
"How is this even possible?" I ask."How did they get in?"  
"It's not possible. The only thing I can think of is that, maybe you've weakened the curse by telling all the people who they really are."  
"Weakening the curse allowed the reporter to enter? Are you serious? I don't know how to handle this!" I reply all frustrated.  
"If there is anything I can do...Definitely keep her away from my father! When he feels threatened he attacks!" Neal warns me.

The next item on my to do list: A meeting with Regina.  
I call her on the phone.  
"I'm ready to give you your heart back," I say firmly, but it will be on my terms, by my rules. Meet us at the docks."  
I hear the clicking noise of her heels hitting the sidewalk before I see her. Once again she walks right at us, immaculately dressed, not a hair out of place.  
"State your terms!" she says and she crosses her arms.  
I pull out the sedative I swiped from the nurse.  
"You take a spoonful of this, and you fall asleep. If this works, when you wake up, you will be in your house with your heart in your chest. Once you are awake you tell me everything you know about the curse. You do not leave anything out."  
"You can't be serious! How naive do you think I am?" Regina scoffs.  
"I will not give you your heart back under any other circumstances!"  
"I fall asleep and I end up tied up in a dungeon somewhere!" she says getting louder.  
"Locking people up in dungeons is what you do!" David replies firmly. "You are forgetting Regina that Snow has your heart. She could be ordering your heart to do this, she could be crushing it, right now! She is giving you a choice. This is our offer, take it or leave it!"  
"Well, look who is back!"Regina says staring at Charming. "How! How are you doing this! First you deage than he remembers! How is any of this possible!"  
"We are not here to satisfy your curiosity," David replies. "Take Snow's offer, or don't. If you ask me, she is offering a lot more than what you deserve!"  
Regina shakes her head. Then she glares at me and sighs.  
"Fine," she replies.  
I hand her the sedative and she the takes a small sip and she sits down on a bench.  
I count to ten and by then she is completely passed out.  
David lifts her up and we walk to the beach cave next to the docks.  
We walk inside, I pull out Regina's heart and I look at it. It was only a few days ago but it feels like it was so much longer, the night I spent getting drunk, contemplating all the awful things I could do to her. I lift up her heart to my lips.  
"Remember," I say quietly."Remember how you lost your heart! Remember who you used to be!"  
Then I hold her heart with both of my hands.  
"Ready?" I ask David.  
He nods.  
I push Regina's heart into her chest as hard as I can and it works, the heart goes straight in there. Regina tenses up in her sleep and then she sighs and relaxes again.  
"You did it!" David says.  
We rush out of the cave, straight to my car. We place Regina in the back seat then we drive straight to her house.  
Once again David lifts her up. I go through her purse to find the keys and unlock her front door. We take Regina upstairs and we place her in one of the upstairs bedroom. Her house is so austere, so void of photographs, and memories and life, its hard to even guess which one is her bedroom and which on is her guest room. I look around realizing that she spent twenty eight years in this house empty of life and I am not sure that this is much better than the cell in the psych ward that Belle was trapped in or the endless sleep David was imprisoned in.  
I watch as David lays Regina on her bed. She is laying still, looking pale and so serious, even as she sleeps.  
The Evil Queen trapped herself in this beautiful tower all alone, with no one to love, no one to laugh with. A curse she, herself could not break. A fancy prison cell. She is still asleep, sedated, so our conversation will have to wait. We walk downstairs and we are about to head out the door when I hear a scream.  
I look at David.  
"Maybe I did something wrong, maybe I gave her the wrong heart!" I say frantically.  
We both rush up the stairs, back to Regina's room to find her kneeling on the floor, her hands clasping her chest, sobbing.  
I kneel right next to her.  
"What's wrong!" I ask.  
"My heart!" she says through her sobs. "I can't. I feel so many things, it hurts, it hurts so much!" She grabs onto both of my hands."How do I make it stop? How do I stop the pain Snow White? You understand pain! Help me!" she says her eyes pleading.  
"You don't stop the pain Regina,"I whisper. "You embrace the pain, you learn from it, you grow!" i smile sadly. "You let the pain make you stronger!"  
"But I did so many things," she cries, "I really hurt people, Snow, it really hurts!"  
"I know," I reply. "You will be fine in time Regina. Can I get you some tea?"  
David heads downstairs to make tea and when he comes back he finds Regina laying back on her bed, her eyes closed, tears still streaming down her face. I'm sitting on a chair by her bed.  
He places the tea cup on her nightstand.  
Regina sits up and takes a sip.  
"I didn't create the curse, it was given to me. But it did require a sacrifice, a sacrifice I had to make. It required the heart of the thing I loved most. I did that," she says and she pauses. "I did that. That was on me. I did that. I don't know how to break the curse. It probably requires true love, or a act of sacrifice, or, I don't even know. It requires acts of love or selflessness, I no longer understand..." she looks at me wistfully."I used to understand love... Anyway, I was told that the curse would be unbreakable but that's was a lie. All curses can be broken," she says. "That's all I know."  
"Who gave it to you?" I asks.  
"I stole it from Maleficent, but it wasn't hers either. The curse came from Rumpelstiltskin."  
I gasp. "Why? Why did he want to do this? Why not cast the curse himself?"  
"Crushing the heart of the thing you love most takes a lot out of a person. I'm guessing that it was a price he wasn't willing to pay."  
"Whose heart did you crush?" David asks.  
Regina closes her eyes, her body racked by silent sobs.  
"My father's!" she whispers.  
I'm crying now too.  
"You took my father from me, to punish me, and then you killed your own father to curse me? Do you not see how self defeating that was?" I ask my voice cracked.  
Regina shakes her head.  
"I do now. I didn't then."  
We stay silent for a while, both of us crying. David places his hand on my back, sharing my burden, trying to make sure I'm okay.  
"What about the woman in the psych ward? Who is she?" he asks.  
Regina opens her eyes and looks at David all surprised.  
"How do you know about her?" she asks then she shakes her head."You know what, I don't even care how you know. The woman's name is Belle. A princess Rumple was in love with."  
"You call him Rumple," David asks making a funny face.  
"He was my teacher once. We were on friendly terms for a while..."  
"What were you doing with Belle? Were you the one who told Belle that she was a murderer?" I ask.  
"Who? Belle? A murderer?" Regina laughs. "She is as heroic as they come. She wouldn't hurt a fly! I told her no such thing! I haven't talked to her in twenty eight years!"  
"You left her with no human contact for twenty eight years?" I gasp.  
"Then who did?" David asks.  
"Moira,"I sigh. "She must have done it."  
"Moira the rogue fairy? Yeah that sounds just like her," Regina replies.  
"Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything helpful about the breaking of the cures, or why Rumpelstiltskin wanted this to happen at all?"  
"I can't think of anything else."  
"Alright," David replies and he helps me up. We are on our way out of her room.  
"I was hoping you would come," Regina says. "As much as I hated you, two years into the curse, I was hoping that you would come into Storybrooke, break the curse and put me out of my misery. You never do what's expected of you, do you?"  
I look at her one last time and then we exit the room.  
David holds my hand and pulls me back as soon as we get out of Regina's front yard.  
"Snow, are you alright?" he asks.  
I nod first, then I shake my head. I'm not alright. This was too much. He pulls me in his arms and kisses my forehead.  
"You are not responsible for Regina's choices" he says quietly and I hold him closer. I want to argue that this is partially my fault, but I don't. I let him pull me back to the light. As he holds my hand and walks with me to the car, I cast one last glance to Regina's mansion. I see the curtain in her bedroom moving. She must have been watching us. I should be feeling uneasy about this, but I understand why she is doing it. The same reason I watched couples in the park for twenty eight years. She is trying to remember what it feels like to have someone willing to stand by you, willing to hold your hand, through the love and the pain, willing to save you from danger, willing to save you from yourself if necessary.  
"I love you Charming!" I say and he looks at me a little surprised.  
"I love you too!" he smiles and then we drive off, away from Regina and her pain.

* * *

Hi guys! Thank you so much for reading. Thank you for reviewing. You know I love hearing from you, so talk to me!

 **baratta jennifer chapter 13 Oh Paul you screwed up big-time**

Did he ever!

 **Guest chapter 13 That was really cute. 28 years of anniversaries missed that's needed to be celebrated for sure. I'm glad that David has his memories now. Now onto getting Belle back, I wonder if she's in the hospital or not. Oh Paul Paul Paul... you truly put your foot in your mouth there. Why would you do that.. Get the hint she's not interested! But I'm curious how this will turn out? Because you said earlier in the story that you can only enter storybrooke if someone invites you and I wonder how the journalist will enter if she doesn't get invited? I hardly think Regina will invite her. Hmmm.**

Thank you! She got in. (Thanks for bringing up the potential plot hole just in time from to patch it up :P

 **Guest chapter 13 You lull us I into a belief that things are calming down and then hit us with a two by four. Your two by fours are always well written. I like the way you worked Paul back into the story. Someone who carries a torch for that long does not go down easy. Can't wait to see the next part and how they will find Belle.  
**

That might be my favorite review of all time. A two by four, huh?  
I contemplated slowing it down and letting the story drift away gently, but then I thought this story started intensely. It needs to go out with a bang.

 **Austenphile chapter 13 The beginning scenes with Snow and Charming were so cute. And now they have an idea where to look for Belle. Love the nod to her Fiona cursed personality. Paul is the ultimate creep. The one who keeps thinking he will get the woman even after being rejected numerous times. But does not really believe it until she is with someone else then whines to everyone including the woman in question. Just awful.**

Thank you so much. Glad you liked the beginning Snow/ Charming scene. I'm always worried that I'm doing too many, but I love making up conversations for them.

 **Guest chapter 13 What a delightful chapter! Now that David has his memories back they can actually start the fighting. I love that like Snow said they have their own little council in their farmhouse with Wilby and soon cough baby Neal. But they should find Belle first before anything like that can happen. If it'll even happen now that Paul really messed things up there. I wonder what Lilly can do about it? Or maybe Reginas protection wall can do something. Anyways this was really cute and I'm excited for what's next. Maybe the other shoe will drop?**

Lilly can't really help. She is just on Snow's list of things to fix and now that she feels that she doesn't have time she is speeding everything up...Trying to get it all done


	15. Chapter 15

**Are you ready?**

* * *

I'm in the kitchen making mashed potatoes. I've invited Neal, Emma and Henry for dinner. David is standing next to me cutting up carrots.  
"I don't understand," he says. "Why are you so worried about this reporter?"  
I sigh. "Because, she already knows the truth. Most of it anyway. So it could go either way. She believes the story, she reports and then everybody comes here to a town where fairytales come to life. We become a theme park. We have reporters camped on our front lawn. They take pictures every time we walk the dog, or go to the library. They write stories with ridiculous titles based on us glaring at them for invading our privacy 'Snow White looks really angry-Is there trouble in paradise? Has Charming been unfaithful? Snow White looks pregnant. Who is the father? Charming talks to blond at the police station. Who is the new woman in his life...'"  
"They would do that? Why would they care?" he frowns.  
"Good stories sell. Could we survive that?"  
David looks at me and shrugs. "If we had to."  
"Now suppose the reporter doesn't believes us. She writes a story exposing 'woman who convinced entire town that they are fairytale characters. What is her motive? Why would she do this?' Do you think our friends who just now started believing who their true selves are can survive that sort of scrutiny?"  
"Probably not. So what do you think we should do?" he asks.  
"I really don't know. There is no right answer for this,"I reply. "Maybe I should just tell her everything. The problem with our truth is that it's not really believable! Maybe we can break the curse in the next couple of days. This way, people will be free to go wherever they like, Storybrooke can be an ordinary town."  
David nods. "Whatever happens, we'll deal with it. Everything is going to work out, you have to have to have faith...-"

Emma, Neal and Henry walk in the door.  
"Hi Grandma!" Henry smiles."Hi Grandpa! Did you hear that there is a reporter in town?"  
I sigh."Sure did! How are you kiddo?"  
"Wow Mom, you are going all out. When you invited us over I was expecting pizza, or take out from Granny's. I wasn't expecting a home cooked meal. Is everything alright?"  
Neal walks up to us. He holds Emma from the back.  
"The food smells great Mom!" he smiles.  
Emma turns around and smiles at him.  
I look at them and I feel so happy. I decide that I'm just going to try to relax and ignore all these intense premonitions of dread.  
"Everything is fine," I smile."So? I want to know all the details. How did it go at the mines?"  
"Well, it was amazing really. Your ring led us right to Maleficent. Only she was a tall scary dragon, and she was looking at us. I wonder if we were the first people she had seen in a while. And then she growled at us and got ready to blow fire on us. And Lilly walked up front and said 'Mom! Please mom! It's me Lilly. I've been looking for you for a very long time. Please remember me'And the dragon looked at us again and made a really angry sound, not that I speak dragon of course. But its sounded really angry. And Lilly said, 'Mommy please! It's me!" Honestly, I was crying by then, Lilly was crying, even Graham teared up and the dragon took a step towards us and she turned into a woman and she was crying too. It was wonderful."  
"That's so sweet," I reply.  
"Then Maleficent wanted to know all about Lilly, what she's been up to. She asked if Regina was in town, if Rumpelstiltskin was in town, if anybody here had magic."  
David frowns and looks at me.  
"She specifically asked if my father was in town?" Neal asks. "That can't be good."  
"Why?" Emma asks.  
"When people go to my father they usually have something sinister in mind."  
David makes a face. "I went to him a couple of times."  
"So did I," I add.  
"Really?" Neal asks. "And did he help you guys?"  
"He did." I reply.  
"And did he ask for anything in return?"  
"Nothing serious. He asked me for a strand of hair."  
"He asked me for my cape."  
"That could be serious. Sounds like he was collecting ingredients," Neal replies.  
"A cape is an ingredient?" David frowns.  
"A cape is a way to get hair without letting you know," Neal replies.  
"Ingredients to what?" Emma asks.  
"I don't know Babe," he replies. "Nothing good."  
"He helped me for free once," David offers. "He said he was a fan of true love and what it creates."  
"What it creates? What does it create? Children? Was he talking about Emma?" Neal frowns.  
"I guess. He told us that Emma would come back, find us, then the final battle will begin. She'd be instrumental to the breaking of the curse."  
"Did he tell you how?"  
"No, not really" David replies.  
"Yeah, mumbo jumbo. Hints but never direct answers," Neal shakes his head. "I wonder what he is up to."  
"We found Belle. And she is not well. We might have to make a deal. Offer to tell him that we know where you are, in order to keep him from attacking Regina for what she did to Belle. Are you okay with that?"  
"That's what I'm here for Mom," he replies.  
Emma wraps her arms around him. "You don't have to do this," she says.  
"I have to. Emma I need you and Henry to be safe. And an all out war between Regina and my father is the opposite of safe."  
"I don't understand. Why do you keep saying that? They no longer have magic! What are they going to do? Glare at each other?" Emma replies looking really frustrated. "I don't want you putting yourself in danger!"  
"Said the police woman to the quiet librarian," Neal smirks and Emma shakes her head.  
"Not funny, Neal," she replies.  
"What if I promise to be really careful?" he says a half smiling, half pleading look on his face.  
"Really, really, really careful?" she replies and he laughs.  
"Whatever my girl wants," he smirks and she leans over and kisses him.  
"Who is going to set the table?" I ask.  
"We got it," Neal replies. "Come on Henry! Show me where everything is at!"  
"What's going on with you Mom?" Emma asks."You made a meal from scratch and you keep looking at everybody funny!"  
"I'm not looking at everybody funny!"I reply and David smirks and coughs a couple of this times.  
"I just have this feeling I cannot shake. Like we are running out of time."  
"Out of time for what?" Emma smiles.  
"I don't know."  
"It's going to be fine, Mom, everything is going to work out, you have to have to have faith!" Emma replies.  
I look at her and I smile.  
"Now , where did I hear that before, very recently?" I ask, looking at David.  
"Whoever said it must have been very wise!" he smiles.  
"Hey Mom, I know it's kind of last minute, but Neal and I were wondering if Henry spend the night here?"  
"Of course,"I smile. "What are you going to do at this late hour? Go out for drinks? Is anything open this late in Storybrooke?"  
Emma looks at me stumped for a minute then she replies "um, you know..we'll think of something...maybe we'll buy a couple of beers and go drink them at the beach," she smiles her most innocent of smiles and then she walks away.  
I turn around and I make a face feeling so silly for the question I just asked her.  
I see David biting his lip trying not to laugh at my very embarrassed blushing face.  
"Oh stop it," I half halfheartedly glare at him. "It's easy to forget that their loft has no walls."  
He is still laughing when I ask people to sit down. Dinner is ready.  
"It's all going to blow over," Emma says putting more chicken on her plate. "You will see. There is no story here."  
"There is a story here." Neal argues.  
"Sure, there's story" Emma shrugs, "but it's too much right? It doesn't sound real, nobody is going to believe it!"  
"I hope you are right!" I sigh.  
"I'm right. Pass the salad please," Emma smiles at Neal.  
"Henry, can you please stop feeding your vegetables to Wilby?" Neal asks. "Yes, I know what you are up to."  
Henry smiles."I want Wilby to be healthy!" he says trying to look innocent.  
I try hard not to laugh.  
Emma frowns. "Henry!"  
David smiles at me from across the table. He raises his glass.  
"To operation... what was it called? And the breaking of the curse!"  
"Goblin Shark!" Henry adds. "Why doesn't anyone ever remember?"  
"You named it Goblin Shark?" Neal asks. "Sweet!" he fist bumps Henry and Henry smiles once again proudly.  
"To families reunited!" Emma raises her glass, then she glances at Neal and Henry. "The quirkier the better!"

I'm sitting in the living room watching David and Henry play with Wilby, listening to Emma and Neal wash dishes in the kitchen.  
"What do you think we should do?" Emma asks him.  
"I don't know. I'm not a hero. I'm just here to keep you safe, Babe" he mumbles.  
"That's pretty heroic," she replies.  
"All I've ever done is escape and survive," he replies.  
"That's not true. You tried to save your father when you were just thirteen, that's pretty amazing," Emma reminds him."Any ideas how to break the curse?"  
"Honestly Emma, it doesn't matter what I tell you. The way to break the curse will present itself in time. It will be something that you will not expect. And it's going to have a price!"  
"A price? Really? What kind of price?"  
"I don't know. All magic comes with a price."  
"I don't like that."  
"Nobody does," he smiles. "Don't worry, when the time comes you'll do what's right."  
"How do you know that?"  
"Doing the right thing is part of who you are!" Neal smiles. "Did your mother agree to watch Henry tonight?"  
"Of course."  
"Are you ready to go then?"  
"Of course," I hear the playful hint of a smile in her voice. She sounds so happy.  
"We are going to head out,"Neal smiles. "Thank you guys for a lovely evening!"  
Emma just blows a kiss to our general direction. "Love you guys!" she says and she walks out holding Neal's hand tightly. I look at them wishing there was away to keep them like this forever, happy, in love. To keep them safe. How do you keep someone safe from "Rumple's" ultimate plans? That's a question I've been asking my self for the past, oh, I don't even know how many years. Maybe I'm good at letting people go and trusting that they will be safe without me, rather than keeping them safe. Maybe.  
David looks at me from across the room.  
"I'll put Henry to bed. You had a very busy day today," he smiles.

I don't want to go to bed tonight. There's so much that needs to be done and not enough time to do it. I'm half tempted to go visit Belle at the hospital tonight, or go ask Regina if there's anything else, anything she might have forgotten to tell me about the curse. And then I listen to David and Henry talking.  
"Whose job is it to break the curse?" Henry asks.  
"I'm not sure," David replies.  
"I'd break it if I knew how," Henry.  
"So would I."  
"Grandma thinks it's her job to break it."  
"She does."  
"I think Grandma is trying to break the curse because she wants to keep everybody safe."  
"You're right. She is."  
"She is always busy trying to save everyone. That's why I try to make her laugh all the time..."  
"Do you?" David asks and I can hear the smile in his voice.  
"Yes. But she is happy now. You are doing a great job grandpa."  
"Thank you!"  
I was contemplating stepping out for a while, maybe driving into town so I can put my thoughts in order, but after hearing them talk I decide against it. I just step out and sit on the porch swing.  
"Do you want some company?" David asks thirty minutes later.  
"You need to ask?" I smile.  
He sits right next to me.  
"Is Henry in bed?" I ask.  
"In bed and already asleep," he replies and he pulls my hand in his. "What are you thinking about Snow? What can I do to ease your mind?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Last time you were really worried. And then you said you didn't want to go through with our plan. And I heard you, but I didn't listen. And things did turn out, but at a great cost. A cost you had to pay alone. I don't want to make the same mistake again. Snow, I'm listening, what do you want to do?"  
I nod. It means so much to hear him say this. But I don't have an answer. Or maybe I do.  
I smile. "If I'm right, and if Storybrooke is running out of time...if this was our last night together...-"  
He has to fight every optimistic bone in his body. Because he wants to set me straight, tell me that we are going to be fine, but he doesn't.  
"If this is our last night together," he echoes my words, placing his head on my shoulders, "what do you want to do?"  
And then I know, I know exactly what I want to do.  
"I want to get married..." I reply.  
"Get married? Aren't we already married? Do you mean land without magic married?" he asks all confused.  
"Kind of," I smile. "When land without magic people survive something big, or when they've been married a long time, they sometimes do what they call a vow renewal ceremony. They kind of get married again."  
"Do you want to do that?"  
"Yes!"  
"And what, do you want to invite people?"  
I shake my head.  
"No, I want it to be just you and me under the moon..."  
"When? Right now?" he asks and I nod.  
"Alright," he smiles and he puts both my hands in his and pulls me up.  
I look at him smiling back at me. He is always ready, always willing and I feel my eyes well up with tears of gratitude. I know this is about to be over and I try hard to keep it together. I try hard not to cry. How I wish we had more time!  
"Snow!" he whispers and his voice sounds hoarse. We stand facing each other, on our porch, on our farm house, this little place we dared to dream that maybe we'd be allowed to have a quite uninterrupted future together. I look at him and admire the moonlight casting shadows on his face. I slide my finger across his cheek, I touch the scar on his chin and offer him a sad smile. There are not enough words to describe all the love overflowing in my heart, but I have to try.  
"No matter what happens, I will never stop fighting for us, I will never stop believing in you, and I will never stop looking for you...ever. I will always find you," I say quietly.  
"Do you promise?" he asks.  
I smile because that is exactly what I said when he woke me up from my sleeping curse.  
"I do!"  
He pulls me in to kiss my lips.  
"If you are right, and if things are about to fall apart," he starts, "I want you to know, beyond the shadow of a doubt that I love you. I will always love you. And if I run out of time or run out of memories, Snow, no matter what happens I will always choose you. I will love you until I draw my last breath..." And then he pauses to wipe the tears streaming down my face. "Do you believe me?" he whispers.  
And I look at him, thinking of how much love and patience and faith he's shown me on the last couple of weeks, when I tried so hard to make sense of things and set him free. How can I not believe him?  
"I do!" I reply, my voice shaking.  
He sits back on the porch swing and he pulls me on his lap. We we sit there together holding each other tight, his face buried in my breasts, my tears streaming as I lean my face on his head.  
"Snow!" he whispers and I smile thinking of how much I love it when he runs out of words.

I wake up first in the morning. I watch David sleep for a few minutes, tears welling up in my eyes. I wipe them away. This is no time for tears. This is the time to put my players on the board and play my game. And if I play the game right, maybe, just maybe I will get another morning like this. Another morning where I wake up next to Charming. Another morning where I will wake up feeling loved and cherished.  
I dial Emma' s phone number.  
"Good morning Mom. Is everything alright? Is Henry okay?"  
"Henry is fine," I try to reassure her. "I just wanted to say be safe today at work, honey. Alright?"  
"Sure thing Mom. I love you!" she replies cheerfully.  
"Good morning Snow!" David smiles at me. I am tempted to grab him and never let go, but I don't.  
"Good morning Charming," I reply.  
Once we send Henry to school we head to the hospital to see Belle. "Things got worse during the night, " the nurse informs us. "We had to sedate her. She should be waking up shortly."  
Dr Archie is already in Belle's room.  
"I tried everything," he says sadly. "If she knows Rumpelstiltskin we should ask him over here. A familiar face can do wonders for someone in her condition."  
I sigh then I look at David. He nods, so I dial Mr Gold's pawnshop.  
"Hello!" I hear Rumpelstiltskin.  
"Can you meet me at the hospital?" I ask hesitantly.  
"Something wrong Snow White?" he asks.  
"I think I might have found Belle!" I reply.  
Rumpelstiltskin walks into Belle's hospital room, frowning. I could tell from our phone conversation that he doesn't quite believe me. He thinks that I'm up to something. When he sees Belle laying on the hospital bed, her beautiful eyes closed, his expression softens. He drops his cane and he stumbles towards her bed. I have never seen him look so human before until this very moment. He really loves this woman. She is still asleep. He caresses her hair, touches her cheek shyly, his tears flowing freely.  
"How?" he asks.  
"After you told us she was the one you loved, we did some research." David smiles.  
"The new librarian was the one who found her name in the curse records," I add, trying to introduce the topic of Neal as gently as possible.  
Rumple seems uninterested in our explanations, he has eyes only for Belle.  
"You need to understand that she is not quite herself," I try to explain. "She is sedated because she is upset and confused. She needs your help to remember who she truly is. Please help us break the curse so everyone can be back to normal!"  
"Of course..." he starts to say.  
And then Belle opens her eyes. She sees him sitting there, crying, and for a brief second I think that I read recognition in her eyes, but I'm wrong. She pulls the covers up to her face and she lets out the most horrifying scream.  
"Get away from me, " she screeches loudly. "What are you doing here? I told you, you are in danger. Get away!"  
Rumpelstiltskin's face gets pale, he takes a step back.  
"Belle it's me!" he pleads but she screams even louder.  
Archie motions us to get out. Rumpelstiltskin stays with her a little bit longer, trying to reach out to her, to no avail. We can tell by the horrifying screams coming out of the room that things are not going well at all.  
A nurse rushes in with another sedative and things mercifully quiet down at last.  
Rumpelstiltskin comes out looking furious at us.  
"Who did this to her?" he asks.  
"I'm not sure," I reply quite truthfully. "I have my suspicions. But what is important is that you are here to help her through it...-" I try to say. "If you help us break the curse..-"  
"The curse?" he laughs. "What do I care about your curse? Archie told me that she was locked up in the hospital basement this whole time. Is this true?"  
"It is," I swallow hard. This is the exact moment I've been dreading.  
"Did you know about this?"  
"Of course not!"  
"Regina will pay for this," he says and the quite certainty in his voice is what makes this threat so terrifying.  
"Wait, what will you do? Hurting Regina will not make Belle any better!" I try to reason with him.  
"None of your business, Snow White," he snaps at me and I look at him, my eyes wide open. Rumpelstiltskin isn't known to be prone to fits of rage, at least not in front of people. He is so upset he is loosing his carefully cultivated image of being in control.  
"What do you plan on doing? Because I want to make a deal with you."  
"I have no need of you or your deals," he replies. He sets out to walk away leaning heavily on his cane.  
"Wait," David tries, "this is something you want to hear about!"  
"What is it dearie?" he asks.  
I take a deep breath and I go all in.  
"If you promise not to exact revenge on Regina and to tell us everything you know about the curse, I will tell you about your son!"  
"My son!" he snaps and walks right at me, sticking his face right in front of mine."You dare use my son as a bargaining chip!" I read so much rage in his eyes, I hold my breath. I have never seen this much rage contained in just one person.  
"Back away!" David yells, pulling out his sword.  
Rumpelstiltskin takes a step backwards.  
"Actually, your son did that," I explain. "He came here and asked us to use him to make a bargain with you. He wants to make sure you do not hurt any more innocent people."  
"Regina is anything but innocent!" he screams so loud, then he looks at me and smiles. And I realize my mistake.  
"He came here? If he came here that means he wasn't here before. Not a lot of people come and go from Storybrooke. That means he is the quiet librarian! I don't need your deal Snow White. I know who my son is!"  
I close my eyes. I said too much, I gave it all away. How is it that whenever it's time for me to keep a secret, I always mess things up?  
My voice shakes, as I survey the pieces of my carefully constructed plan falling chess pieces laying broken and scattered, my chess board is upside down. I blew it. I failed.  
David steps in. "Your son is hesitant to meet you. He wants to keep everyone safe. The way to save Belle is to break the curse," he reasons quietly. "Break the curse and she will remember who she is. Break the curse and your son will see that you are capable of caring of others, not just yourself. You can start over, with Belle, with your son...what do you say?"  
Rumpelstiltskin measures him up. "Breaking the curse is quite complicated dearie. It requires an act of sacrifice. I can't just make it happen. It needs to happen naturally. What you are asking me to do...-" his voice trails off as he ponders all the aspects of David's suggestion.  
I look at David full of hope. Maybe all is not lost. Maybe Rumpelstiltskin will do the right thing.  
The door of the room next door opens. Maleficent steps out with Lilly by her side.  
"I told you, I was fine," Maleficent smiles.  
Lilly gives her aside hug. "It doesn't hurt to get checked up Mom! You were in the tunnels for twenty eight years."  
Then they both pause and look at us. I bite my lips. I've wanted to talk to Maleficent, ask for her forgiveness the longest time, but their showing up couldn't have happened at a worse time. She looks at all of us standing there, absorbed in the mess that Storybrooke is in at the moment and she smiles.  
"My, my, who do we have here?" she asks.  
"I need to talk to you...-" I start quietly.  
"Mom I told you, Snow is alright," Lilly tries to say.  
Maleficent looks at her. "You might be right. But that doesn't mean she shouldn't suffer for what she did to us!" She pulls out a vial full of a purple liquid from the folds of her dress and throws it to Rumpelstiltskin. "Here you go!" she says. "I believe this belongs to you. Make them all pay!" she says and she walks away slowly.  
"What was that? What did you give him?" Lilly asks. She turns around and looks at us all concerned. Maleficent walks away with Lilly trailing her.  
"Answer me Mother! What was that?"  
Rumpelstiltskin's angry eyes now glow with a hunger that terrifies me.  
"What is this?" I whisper.  
"You'll see!" he replies and he walks away leaning on his cane.  
"Whatever it is you are planning on doing please don't!" I yell after him. "Please! If not for anyone else, just for your son's sake!" I beg.  
He turns around and walks back to me. "You think I do not realize what you did to my son! You think I do not know that he is Emma's husband! Was it hard locating my son so that you could marry off your daughter to him? Was it hard turning my own son against me? You really thought you could have the Dark One on your side, didn't you! I have to hand it to you Snow White, you play a long game!"  
"When Emma married him I didn't know who he was, neither did she!" I try to explain but he is already heading out. "Wait, I had no idea!"  
He isn't listening. He doesn't believe me or maybe his wrath is so intense, he just doesn't care.  
I turn to face David. He looks at me faltering and reaches for my hand. He is trying to soften the blow.  
"I recognize that purple vial. It's the thing that Rumpelstiltskin asked me to hide inside the dragon," he explains.  
"So we are the ones who gave it to her!" I reply shaking my head. Today is a day of reckoning. Today is the day that every wrong choice we have made in the past will come back to destroy us.  
He hesitates for a while. "No matter what happens," he finally says, giving me a sad smile.  
I nod and I lean heavily on him.  
"We need to let Neal know. Let's call him."

We end up going to the library to talk to Neal in person. Emma comes too.  
"He accused you of what? Planning my marriage to Emma so you could control him?" Neal laughs.  
Emma looks at him. "Why would he think that?" she asks.  
"Because that's what he would do," Neal shrugs. "Well apparently I'm no good as a bargaining chip. I need to talk to him as soon as possible."  
The irony of what happened between Neal and Emma and what Rumpelstiltskin just accused me of is impossible to ignore. Neal spent years pulling away from Emma, because he thought we'd accuse him of trying to get closer to Emma for her throne. And now his father is accusing us of pushing Emma and Neal together in order to get control of the Dark One and his powers. I shake my head, lost in my thoughts. David squeezes my hand and we head out of the library.  
And that's when we see it. We are half way through the intersection when we see a purple cloud descending towards us, rolling down, swallowing mercilessly everything and everyone in its path. We don't say another word. There is no time to run, no time to hide, no time to fight, no time to whisper our goodbyes. David turns to face me, his eyes meet mine, his hands reach for me, a silent declaration of love, and then we close our eyes and hold each other tight and let the purple cloud roll over us.  
The power of the cloud completely engulfs me and I feel myself disappear within its power, and if David's arms weren't tethering me to reality I think I might have flown away, or dissolved or become purple mist myself. I've never felt this much raw power before. Hold me tighter I want to scream but my voice won't come out, I've forgotten how to open my mouth, how to form sounds. I feel David's heart beating fast next to mine. _Stay with me,_ his heart whispers, _stay with me.  
_ When I feel that the purple cloud has finally dissolved I open my eyes relieved to still find him holding me. He is alright. I'm still here. We are both alright. "What happened?" I whisper.  
"Let's find out!" he replies. We head to Granny's first. All our friends are gathering there slowly. In about an hour almost everybody is there.

"What was that smoke?" Happy asks.  
"That was downright anticlimactic," Sneezy complains. "All this smoke and the curse isn't even broken," Sneezy states.  
"Then what was that smoke?" Happy asks.  
"Magic!" the Blue Fairy says.  
"What?" Ruby gasps."Magic in Storybrooke? Why?"  
"Gold," I reply shaking my head. "Probably to heal Belle," and a whole bunch of other things too horrible to consider at the moment , I think but I do not say that part out loud.  
"You are the Blue Fairy! Do something magical!" Henry smiles.  
"I've been trying,"she sighs. "I have no wand, no pixie dust."  
"Is the reporter gone?" I ask hopefully. Maybe she wasn't here, maybe she did't see this.  
"I don't know," Red replies. "She was here with a camera man yesterday. I haven't seen her all morning."  
"Maybe...-" I start saying.  
"Shh, everybody quiet," Granny interrupts me. "We are on TV!"  
She turns up the volume on the TV mounted on the wall. Everybody looks at the breaking news on the local channel.

 **Fairytale Armagedon**! is the horrible title of Diana's in depth news report about us. There's actual video of Charming and I holding each other as the purple mist descends around us. 'The woman who calls herself the real Snow White holds her charming husband as the mysterious purple cloud engulfs them. This isn't a movie set, folks, it is all real. It happened right in front of my eyes about an hour ago, in a little town called, wait for it, Storybrooke in Maine."

The story goes on to identify a lot of characters, complete with picture of Granny's diner, with king George smiling proudly in front of it. It explains who we are, it includes a rough description of the curse and a few of the unexplained phenomenon like a picture if me in the force, looking my actual age and a picture of me now. Whoever took this picture must have used a telescopic lense because I did not see them do it. And then the news break for commercial.

"Now what?" David asks as we all stare at each other.  
"Now nothing. This is local channel. It's not like we made national news. Besides, who is going to believe this?" Emma asks.  
"You'd be amazed," Neal replies.  
"Grandma! You are on youtube!" Henry says all excited. We lean over his tablet and we watch a small clip of David and I holding each other as a wave of purple mist washes over us.  
"When I said we should have held each other and let the curse wash over us I didn't mean in front of the cameras..." I groan.  
"Maybe nobody will watch it," Red says.  
I look at the bottom corner.  
It has three hundred thousand views and counting.  
I'm speechless. Everybody is looking at me and I have no words of wisdom to impart, no idea what we should do next. I can't believe I've failed everyone this badly.  
The news are back on. Everybody turns back to the TV.  
I step out of Granny's diner and I sit on the front steps.

"This was our chance," I turn to David who's followed me outside. "This was our chance for a quite life together, and I blew it!"  
"This isn't your fault," David says sitting next to me. "This is an impossible situation and you are doing your best."

I close my eyes. "I can't fix this,"I reply. "I have no idea how to break the curse, and now Gold and probably Regina have magic!"  
He doesn't have an actual answer for me. Once again he reaches for my hand and I read the response in his eyes. _"No matter what happens."  
_ "I'm grateful I'm not facing this alone," I whisper and I let my tears flow freely. And just like our first night in Storybrooke after he woke up, he sits next to me, holding my hand as I cry.

"They are coming!"Grumpy yells loudly. We step outside Granny's where we spent the past three hours discussing our options. In the last three hours all the major channels have picked up our story, except now, they are playing the footage of the purple mist descending, over and over. They are no longer interested in the fairytale angle. They are saying that we are probably involved in a science experiment that has gone terribly wrong and they are asking the authorities to intervene. In the last three hours Graham has been contacted by authorities, he's been told that help is coming, that we should keep people in their homes, keep them calm. help is on the way. Except we do't need their help. We don't want them anywhere near us. It will take them minutes to realize that our entire town is an oddity, that our identities are fictional, that we just sprung out of nowhere twenty eight years ago. After careful weighing our options we've decided that our best bet is to slowly evacuate the town. We've closed up all the shops and organized everyone into small groups. They've all headed to the forest, slowly without attracting any attention. We are the last ones here, waiting to see further developments before we join them in the forest.  
David rushes up the clock tower to join Emma and Neal. They look around with binoculars. When they come down they all look grim.  
"There are three military trucks rolling into town slowly. They are stopping every few feet, and guys in hazmat suits get out and take measurements." Emma says. "it will be a while before they get here."  
Graham drives up to us in his police car. "There are about thirty news vans parked at the edge of town. They were forbidden entry by three military guys in hazmat suits. They were told that our town is quarantined. They were told they can come in if the military clears the town,"Graham explains.  
I nod. What do we do now?  
Regina drives up to us and parks next to Graham.  
"We are in trouble, obviously," she says looking mainly at me. "But we have magic now. So tell me what to do and I'll do it. Tell me how you'd like me to stop them!"  
"Do not do anything violent," Emma warns. "This is the military we are talking about, they have unbelievable fire power and they will not hesitate to use it against us."  
"Can you confound them?" Henry asks brightly.  
Neal laughs and ruffles Henry's hair.  
"This isn't Harry Potter, kid,"Emma smiles.  
"He might have a point,"Regina replies."If you object to stopping them by violent means we could do an invisibility spell."  
"How would this work?" Emma asks.  
"I say the words and we instantly become invisible to them. We hide and we wait. If the town looks deserted they will eventually give up and leave, right?" Regina asks.  
David looks at me all hopeful. My expression must be telling because he nods and looks down. Emma looks at me. We both know how police and military works. They will not give up any time soon. Even if they can't see us, they will stick around our quirky little town for years to come. They will never admit defeat. They will bring in their scientists, they will measure the air and the water and the earth, they will work hard to explain what the reporters captured on film and once they do, they will either contain us for the safety of others or if they decide that we can be trusted they will put us to use, in order to justify all the money and effort they spent studying us. They will look for ways to take advantage of what they learn from us. They will look for ways to take advantage for our sort of magic. And we can't let that happen. I didn't struggle for the past twenty eight years to reunite my family, just to become a military science experiment, I know that much. I also know that we cannot go to war against their kind of power, not even if we have all the magic in the world. A head on approach will just force them to attack us harder.  
I close my eyes as Emma describes what the military will likely do next. Her predictions pretty much line up with mine.  
"Even so, " I counter "Regina's idea is a start. Do it Regina! Buy us some time. We can all hide in the forest for a while, until we come up with a better plan."  
Regina nods. She walks in the middle of the street, lifts her hands up in the air and closes her eyes.  
I can see strange almost invisible strands of power trickling from her fingers. I can feel the familiar sensation of magic tingle all around me and it is strange and familiar all at once. I didn't realize it but I had missed living in a place where anything was possible.  
I look at David and he smiles back at me. This could work, his faith argues against my logic. Maybe we can hide long enough for us to break the curse. Especially now that Rumpelstiltskin and Regina will be forced to work together against a common enemy, maybe we will break the curse and leave Storybrooke and the military and the reporters behind. Emma watches Regina working her magic, and she places her hands protectively on Henry's shoulders. She can feel it too, the lure of magic, the lure of possibility, her Enchanted Forest blood waking up, humming through her veins. Slowly and without realizing it she walks towards Regina, looking at the power radiating from her hands. Then Emma looks at her own hands. They are pulsing and shaking with white light. She walks closer to Regina her eyes wide open, completely overwhelmed with what is happening to her.  
Emma has magic. The thought flashes inside my mind, and I turn to look at David. He looks shocked too.  
"Emma, get back here!" Neal calls out to her, but she doesn't hear him.  
We are all so entranced by the realization that Emma has powers, nobody notices the man who walks in the middle of the street and faces Regina. Nobody notices as he lifts up his hands, trembling with rage points them towards the Queen. Emma certainly doesn't notice as she walks right in front of Rumpelstiltskin's attack. Neal does notice though. He screams "Papa don't!" and he jumps in front of Emma and Regina, with arms outstretched, his chest extended. Rumpelstiltskin gasps in horror as the black tendrils of magic intended for Regina hit his own son on the chest. Neal crushes to the ground, his whole body shaking as if electricity is running through it.  
Emma screams Neal's name and rushes to kneel at his side. He is laying there, not moving, his eyes closed a soft smile playing on his lips.  
"What did you do!" she screams at Rumpelstiltskin and as she yells I notice that sparks of electricity come out of the electric poles around us and the lights flicker. She asks again one more time softly,"What did you do?"as she strokes Neal's hair back from his face and gently lifts his head from the ground. "I love you," she says through her sobs, "can you hear me? I love you, I have always loved you even when you were being a stubborn ass, even when you were trying to push me away, I love you, do you hear me?"  
I'm crying and I want to reach for her but David pulls me back. "Wait!" he whispers.  
I nod and I watch as Henry walks forward and wraps his arms around Emma.  
"This wasn't supposed to happen,"I whisper and he nods.  
"I know," he replies. "No matter what happens Snow...-" he whispers back, squeezing my hand.  
I wonder if he's spent this whole terrible day whispering that to himself. My promise to him, his promise to me. No matter what happens.  
Dr Whale, Regina, and the Blue Fairy are all crowding Neal, trying to revive him. Rumpelstiltskin just walks away his shoulder slumped. He knows there is no coming back from the sort of magic he used. The sort of magic he intended to use on Regina. Emma looks at the women and Dr Whale all hopeful, but one by one they all shake their heads.  
"He is still alive," Dr Whale says, "but I doubt that he will make it through the night."  
Emma sobs and leans over and kisses Neal on the lips, one two three times, then she looks at me.  
"It doesn't work," she cries, "I love him so much, why doesn't this work?"  
I walk towards her and I pull her in my arms. "I don't know, sweetheart. I don't know why it doesn't work," I say and I pull her in my arms.  
"We should take him to the hospital!"Emma begs. "We should do something!"  
Dr Whale shakes his head. "This isn't a regular injury," he tries to explain. "This is a dark magic attack. If Regina can't save him, nobody can!"  
"Regina please!" Emma begs.  
"I don't know what else to do," Regina replies and it shocks me that her voice is cracked. "I really don't. I'll keep on trying though!"  
David and Graham place Neal on a stretcher, and load him on an ambulance. We follow them in the police cruiser and Emma's yellow bug. We drive all the way to the toll bridge then we abandon our vehicles and walk the rest of the way into the forest.  
If they have dogs or minimal tracking skills they will find us instantly, I think bitterly, but at least we are still invisible to them.  
We sit in small groups int the forest and we wait.  
Emma is laying next to Neal, holding him tight, crying over him.  
"Stay with me," she begs. "Just this once, don't walk away, stay with me!"  
My heart aches to comfort my beautiful girl, but I hold back. I know this is their last time together and she needs to do this alone. She spends the next hours laying next to him, talking to him, telling him everything she needs him to know and I know he can hear her, even if he can't respond.  
I sit quietly my back leaning against a tree trunk, Henry laying down next to me his head on my lap.  
David and Grumpy sneak back into town and when they come back the news aren't good. There are twenty military trucks parked in the town, several emergency tents set up. They have gone into Granny's and turned the place inside out looking for clues, they have gone through the Mayor's hall, through the library, looking for information, discussing our disappearance. They plan on bringing dogs tomorrow morning.  
David sits next to me. He looks exhausted. I lean my head on his shoulder.  
"It's over," I mumble. "When they capture us tomorrow you tell them nothing. You let me do all the talking, alright?" I whisper trying to stifle a sob.  
He places his arm on my shoulders and kisses my forehead. "My wife, always trying to keep everyone safe," he mumbles. "Tell me what to do and I'll do it, Snow."  
"I don't know what else to do."  
And then Regina walks up to us. "There is something we could do...it could save most of us, not everyone, but I can't really bring it up,"she says. "And it won't help you Snow!"  
"Regina, whatever it is, say it now. Please! We have hours before they come for us!"  
"Neal's heart,"she whispers.  
I look at her horrified. I understand what she means. David looks at me, his eyes wide open.  
"Neal is still alive but not awake. He is about to die. Emma can cast my curse and that will instantly transport us to the Enchanted Forest. But since we don't want to drag the hazmat teams and the news reporters and the neighboring town along, we modify the curse just a little bit, so it only transports whoever came through the first time. We go back to the Enchanted forest, without any memory loss and we start over," she concludes hesitantly, looking at me.  
I can feel David's arm around my shoulders getting tighter. I close my eyes and I feel tears streaming down my face.  
"And there is a catch," Regina adds. "Since we are casting a curse within an unresolved curse, the people that do not remember who they are, will never get their original memories back."  
I nod. "Anything is better than spending the rest of your lives probed and interrogated by guys in hazmat suits," I reply.  
"They could still do it to you!" David rasps.  
"I can hide. Emma, Henry and I can hide. We'll manage. I've hidden before. We cannot hide the whole town!"  
"Snow!" David pleads as I swallow my tears.  
"Charming, please, you know I'm right," I say trying to sound strong, trying to keep my voice steady.  
He looks at me with so much pain and love in his eyes, I feel all my resolve crumbling. I can't give him up, not again.  
"How I wish you weren't!" he replies.  
As hard as I try to be strong, I can't hold back my sobs. He cups my face and kisses me softly.  
"No matter what happens," he whispers.  
I nod and try to smile.  
"How are we going to tell Emma?" I ask.  
"I'll do it," Emma says stepping out of the shadows. Her face is serious, her eyes are puffy but she is not crying any more."'I'll do it and it will probably break the curse too. Neal said the way to break the curse will present itself in time. It will be something that I will not expect. And it's going to have a price. This is it," she says quietly. "This is the price. Now we have to pay it!"  
She rushes towards me, kneels next to me and buries her head on my shoulder.  
David leans closer to us and holds her, cupping the back of her head with his hands.  
Emma let's go of me and buries her face in his chest.  
"Daddy he's dead. And I just met you!" she sobs. "I'm not ready to say goodbye!"  
"This isn't goodbye," he says, his voice soft reassuring.  
"Do you really believe that?" she asks.  
"You know I am Emma. And I'm pretty sure that Neal can still hear everything you tell him."  
Emma nods.  
"Someone needs to explain what's happening to everybody," I say quietly. Someone other than Regina. Someone the people trust.  
"I'll do it," David nods.  
He kisses Emma on her forehead and then he walks a few steps forward, climbs on a fallen log and says "Can I have everyone's attention please?"  
His voice is hoarse, his heart is broken but he still manages to explain the situation. He explains the possibility of our people never regaining their original memories. He describes what will happen if we let the military find us. I watch him stand there, explaining things, smiling through his pain and I see a king, not a prince. I am so proud of him. There is no doubt in my mind that he will take good care of our people. This is what he was born to do. And I wish I could be there to watch him lead, watch him grow old, I wish I could be there to watch him wear his cape and ride his horse and and crack his smile...I would have been so proud to lead by his side.

Regina comes closer to me. I'm surprised to see her eyes tearing up.  
"I didn't see this coming," she says. "I didn't see us going back, or me caring about you not coming along...having a heart is more complicated than I thought," she says. She reaches for me and gives me a quick hug. "I am so sorry, Snow!" she says quietly. "You have to know that I will help in any way I can, your husband, your kingdom and your people, if they'll let me. All my powers are at their disposal. I'm on your side."  
I look into her eyes and realize she is being absolutely sincere. "Thank you!" I manage to reply.  
"I'll get everything ready. We should do this at dawn," she adds and then she walks away.  
David sits next to me and buries his face in my neck. He doesn't have any words left, but then neither do I. We hold each other silently in the dark and can't help but hear what Emma whispers to Neal.  
"You said you were not a hero and then you jumped in front of the Dark One to save me. To save Regina. That's what heroes do. I'm going to use your heart to move everybody back to the Enchanted Forest, to save them. I think that's what you meant, when you said the situation will present itself, and I will do the right thing... I wonder if you realized that the price would be you, I sure didn't...if I'd known I'd taken you and Henry and moved back to Boston... if I'd known, I'd never asked you to come to Storybrooke...Neal, I kissed you and you didn't wake up. Part of me wonders if you didn't because you know, you knew your heart would save us all... I want you to know that I'd rather be a military experiment for the rest of my life than live without you...so if you can come back to me, I'm right here..."

Listening to my daughter say goodbye to the Dark One's son is the most heartbreaking thing I heard in all my life. And I look at then in wonder, what sort of power brought the Savior and the Dark One's son together in the Land without magic? I marvel at how Neal was the only one who believed Emma's story about the past and how Emma was the only one who never walked away from him...and I wish with all my heart that Neal would wake up. Emma is right, I'd rather be in the clutches of the military forever than have my Emma loose her Neal.  
I hear her kiss him one more time. And then I hear her muffled sobs. Because even though she is giving him love's truest kiss, the Dark One's son, is not waking up.

* * *

Hello! Thank you for reading! In the event that you are still talking to me after what I did to Storybrooke, please write a review. You can yell at me all you like!

 **baratta jennifer chapter 14 And King George revenge  
** King George shows up just long enough to destroy everything...

 **Austenphile chapter 14 This chapter was such a perfect distraction today. And of course it would be George who talked to the reporter. Graham and Lily are an interesting combination.**

Thank you. I'm not sure Graham and Lilly or Graham and whoever matters much since the world is about to end...

 **Guest chapter 14 Loved the new chapter! It's really getting more and more intriguing as the story goes. I think it'll take another 28 years before Snow can eat pancakes. The Nova x Grumpy moment was adorable. Of course George had to ruin everything! Why would rumple give him his memories back? To stop Snow? They found belle! She's a bit lost but hey at least she isn't in Regina and the fairy's care. Graham and Lilly is an interesting pairing. Good for graham to get his heart back! Reginas life without Henry is pretty sad too, to have had no one for all that time. She really built herself a prison. And yet again I feel bad for snow again who has also had to go through a prison sentence. Good job on this!**

Thank you! I love Nova. I will bring her up in every fanfiction I write, because I love Nova.

 **Guest chapter 14 Grrrrrr. George. Can't you for once mind your own business. At least we got some cuteness to make up for it. Overall it was a pretty eventful chapter, a lot of things happened, some very important things.I hope Lilly find her mother and that the journalist leaves and never comes back. I feel like they are really close to breaking the curse now.. but how will it happen. I'm looking forward to what's happening next!**

Thank you. I feel the need to apologize to you specifically. You sounded so hopeful. Sorry!

 **Guest chapter 14 Well who elected George as King of anything? The first scene is funny. Hope they can stop the invasion of reporters. Lilly and Graham are an item? Liked Graham and Ruby but ok. Maybe now that they are helping Belle recover they can prevent Rumple from extracting revenge on Regina.**

Sorry about Lilly and Graham. It seemed like an interesting idea. But since their world is about to end, I don't suppose it matters much. Also sorry that their world is about to end.


	16. Chapter 16

29 years earlier...

I've never been able to sleep before life changing events. Today is no different. I lay on our bed alone staring at the ceiling. I can't sleep and I'm not sure if its because of the anticipation of our big day tomorrow or because I miss Charming too much. I get out of bed and out of our bedchambers.

"Charming, are you awake?" I knock on his door.

"I am now," I hear him yawning.

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep. I was going to go stargazing on the tallest tower. Did you want to come?"

"Right now? Yeah, sure, I'm in," he replies and I hear him shuffling around, probably looking his shoes. My Charming, I smile, always game for anything.

"Wait!" I panic. "Don't open your door just yet. Crack it open and put this on!" I hand him a piece of fabric.

"Um? What am I putting on exactly?"

"A blindfold?"

"You want me to go stargazing blindfolded?" he asks incredulously.

"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!"

"Yes, but still..."

"The blindfold is until we get to the tower. When we get there we can sit back to back. You can look the stars and still not see me..." I reply brightly. I'm very proud of myself. I've thought of everything.

"Oh, I guess that almost makes sense..." he mumbles. "Wait, how do I even put this on? Can you help me tie this? It's too short."

"Are your eyes closed?"

"My eyes are closed."

"Okay, turn around...there, it's tied. Let's go, give me your hand."

"Wait, how come you get to see me and I don' t get to see you?"

"Because its bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, not the other way around!"

David laughs."But we are already married!"

"I didn't make the rules..."

"No, but somehow they are suspiciously in your favor. Lead the way..."

I pull him through the hallway.

"Why aren't you sleeping anyway? Are you having second thoughts?" he asks.

"Second thoughts? We are already married. Besides, marrying you was the wisest best decision I've ever made...it's just that...-"

"Just that what?" he asks.

I take a sharp turn at the end of the hallway and David bumps his shoulder into the wall.

David groans.

"Sorry! Are you hurt?"

"I'll live. You were saying?"

"You know how I thought that it would be fun to sleep separately on the night before the wedding?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yes!"

"Turns out I can't sleep without you next to me."

David smiles. "Good!" he replies and then he bumps his head on a doorframe.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

David is rubbing his head.

"I'm going to be all beaten up and bruised on my wedding," he complains. "Alright, let me show you how to do this."He takes off the blindfold and hands it to me. "Put this on please."

"What are you doing? You will see me!"

"My eyes are still closed. Did you put it on?"

"Yes"

"Alright, stand behind me and give me both your hands. I'm opening my eyes. Let's go. We are going to make a right here, watch your step...alright now there are four steps here, ready...good now we are going straight..there's a winding staircase coming up in two steps...you have to tell me where we are going, not just pull me along...-"

"Okay, I get it. Put this back on, please."

I hand him back the blindfold.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Ready."

I reach for his hand.

"We are just going to go straight now...now left...two steps down...short doorframe, watch your head..."

"It didn't really occur to me how much this place is like a maze until just now..."

"I know right? I love castles...we should play hide and seek."

"Some other time perhaps when I'm not blindfolded," he replies dryly.

I laugh.

"One more right, and we are there. Okay, watch your head, sit down right here."

I sit down with my back to him.

"Alright, take it off," I smile.

"All of it?" he teases.

"Just the blindfold," I clarify giggling.

"I don't know, I kind of like it...," he says. "What does the tradition say about kissing one's wife who can't sleep on her own, on the eve of her wedding?"

"Nothing" I smile.

"Good!" he replies. He turns around and reaches for my face. I kiss him and he smiles drawing me closer, his voice hoarser now.

"And what does tradition say about making love to one's wife blindfolded on the eve of his wedding?"

"Um, tradition is staying strangely quiet about that one..." I giggle, my heart pounding. " It's probably frowned upon..."

"Probably," he concedes as he pulls me on his lap and starts unlacing my nightgown.

I wrap my arms around him and kiss him hard, fast, wanting.

"So glad you can't sleep without me," he smiles as he lays back and pulls me on top of him.

"Charming? Do you think we will always be like this?" I ask much later when we are laying together on the floor.

"Like what? Sweaty, blindfolded and in desperate need of sleep? Probably" he teases.

"Happy! I meant this happy!"I say and I nudge him with my elbow.

"I hope so..." he smiles.

"I love you so much..."I whisper.

"I love you too, " he yawns and he wraps his arm around me.

"You are going to sleep? Here? Now?"

"Yes, if my wife will let me..." he mumbles.

"But we were going to stargaze..."

"I saw some stars alright," he mumbles. I lay in his arms watching the stars out of the window.

A very hectic day filled up with wedding preparations is coming up ahead, but I lay here all relaxed, my heart swelling with love and joy. The stars are smiling back at me.

"This is what happily ever after feels like, isn't it?" I ask them.

They are blinking back, bathing me in their light.

* * *

I've never been able to sleep before life changing events. Today is no different. I watch as the light of the dawn creeps upon us slowly, dreading the heartbreak that the new day will bring. Charming is sitting next to me, our fingers intertwined, his head resting on my shoulder. As the hour of our separation draws near Charming gets more quiet and I keep talking more, trying to bridge the silence that's about to become permanent, between us.

"If the dwarves give you a hard time, or try to question you too much, be nice to them. Don't boss them around too much."

"Don't boss the dwarves around, got it," David mumbles.

"It's been so many years since we've been to our land, it might be overrun by ogres."

David nods again.

"Ogres can't see anything, but they go by smell and hearing. So be careful. Try to shoot them in the eye. That's their weak point."

David nods and smiles, because he is the reason I have any ogre fighting experience. He is the one who taught me how to fight them. I knew how to fight trolls, he knew how to fight ogres and dragons.

"And if I take too long and you find love again," I say and my voice falters,"it's alright. I just want you to be happy."

He lifts up his head and turn to face me. "If I find love? I won't find love because I won't be looking for it. I already found it." he replies, "I'm yours and yours alone. Besides, didn't we just renew our vows? What was the point of that if you are just going to release me from them, on the very next day?"

"I'm not releasing you from anything, I'm just saying," I mumble.

"Good," he replies. "Now stop it and go back to telling me how to fight ogres again," he smiles.

"You already know how to fight everything there is to fight in the Enchanted Forest."

"Tell me anyway. I like it when you fuss."

"Promise me that you will be okay. That you won't take unnecessary risks, that you will be safe."

"I promise. I will be the safest non bossy ogre fighting prince the Enchanted forest has ever seen."

"King," I amend.

"King," he replies hesitantly. He closes his eyes and he tries to keep his voice even. I get it. I wouldn't want to be crowned on my own either. "What else do you want me to do?" he asks very quietly.

"Be happy."

He takes a deep breath. "I'll be happy," he says and I can hear his voice ready to crack.

"If I have to become a full blown witch, in order to figure out how to cross realms, I'll do it," I say."I will find you."

He nods. "And if I have to resurrect the giants so they can tell me how to grow magic beans...whatever it takes," he adds.

"Whatever it takes," I echo his words.

"It's time," Regina says.

I clasp my hands tighter around Charming. He brushes his lips against my cheek.

"We should do this on the town line. I've altered the curse so it will not go past it. It will only pick up the people transported last time, within the town limits, nobody else. But you should still cross the town line just in case. We don't want the current of the curse picking you up and tossing you in between realms. We are still invisible to them, so the military wont see us," she explains.

"How long will the invisibility spell last?" I ask.

"At least a week. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Emma replies grimly. She stands up slowly.

Regina twirls her hands and we are all instantly transported to the town line. There's a cauldron there, a small fire burning underneath it. Neal's unconscious body is laying on a stretcher next to it.

Lilly hugs her mother, then steps out of the crowd, and crosses the town line, waiting for us on the other side. I see the pain and regret in her face. Time. We all needed more time.

"I think I can do this," Emma says quietly. She walks up to David kisses him one last time. He cups her head with the palm of his hands and closes his eyes. He is trying to stay strong for her, trying to stay strong for Henry and me.

Emma walks over to Neal and kneels next to him. She looks at Regina.

"How do I do this?" she asks.

"Think of how much you love him, then reach in and pull out his heart. Don't worry, he is unconscious, he won't feel a thing."

Emma takes a long hard look at Neal's face, she kisses him one last time and while her lips are still on his, she reaches his chest with her hand. Her whole body shakes briefly and then Neal's heart is in the palm of her hand. His heart is almost dark, there's just a small flicker of light still in it. He is alive, barely, hanging by a thread.

Emma looks at his heart and brings it to her lips.

"Come back to me," she whispers. "Don't worry about the town, we'll find another way!"

Neal lays there, his eyes closed, his condition unchanged.

"Emma, we don't have much time," Regina says quietly.

Emma stands up, walks next to the cauldron, holds her hand above the water and she slowly crushes Neal's heart, her body wrecked by sobs. The cauldron bubbles and a steady white steam is now pouring out of it.

"We have about a minute," Regina says. "You should cross over."

Regina steps closer to Neal's body and move's her hands slowly. Neal's body disappears and a grave stone appears in it's place.

 _Neal Cassidy, beloved father, husband, friend_ , the tombstone says. It should probably say beloved son as well, I think, but there is no time to argue. No one has seen Rumpelstiltskin or Belle since the accident. But if they are still within the town line, the new curse will reach him too.  
Henry hugs David as hard as his small arms will let him, his eye squinting.

David kneels to hug him back. Then he releases the boy and gently pushes him toward his mother. Emma and Henry step over the town line and stand next to Lilly.

This is it, the moment I've been dreading this past two days. David walks with me to the town line. He pulls both my hands in his and I lift them up to my lips. I look at him, trying hard to memorize the lines of his face, the blue of his eyes, the curve of his sad smile, the love and the pain in his expression as he stands there staying strong for me. I step on my tip toes one last time and I feel his lips on mine, soft and passionate at the same time, sad and triumphant. A love that transcends time and realms. A love that broke the power of this curse piece by piece, bringing him back to life, bringing my youth back, giving him back his memories. He cups my face with his hands. And I feel it once more, the power of our kiss. I feel the ground shake by this bright pulse of true love, stronger than any sort of magic, and I realize this is it, we did it, we just broke Regina's curse. Everybody around us is blinking and looking at each other, embracing each other, calling each other by their real names, clapping their hands.  
"We are going home!" Happy exclaims. Grumpy glares at him.  
My eyes are focused on Charming and nobody else.

"We did it," he says and his voice sounds so sad. "We broke the curse..."

I nod. "Better late than never, right?" I try to laugh, but my voice comes out more like a sob. I stare at Rumpelstiltskin's black leather cuff still wrapped on his wrist. If he wasn't wearing that, maybe I could reach out and pull him with me over the town line...he looks at it too. If only we had more time...but our time is up. We were so close, I realize. So close.

"Don't say goodbye!" he whispers.

"Never," I sob. "No matter what happens!"

"Snow" he breathes my name one last time and then he releases me and takes a step back, willing me to go, willing me to cross the town line, to be safe with Emma and Henry. I step back slowly and watch as the white smoke from the cauldron engulfs everybody, I take the last step back to where Emma is standing, just over the town line, and I reach for him one last time. He looks so desolate,standing there, looking at his family one last time, and I panic briefly. Does he know how all encompassing, intense and overpowering my love for him is?

"I love you more than anything!" I sob and I see his hand reaching for me too, as the white smoke slowly creeps up around his feet.

He stands there looking at me, eyes welling up with unshed tears, tenderness and grief. His love overwhelms me and I run out of words. I know he is standing strong for me, because I need him to do that. He is standing strong because this wasn't my fault, this wasn't his fault. Neither of us deserved it, but it happened. Neal gave his life to prevent his father from killing Emma, then he gave his heart to send everybody back home. I put my arms around a sobbing Emma and Henry and we stand there until there's nothing left to see. The white smoke dissipates and there's nobody there. Just a small tombstone as a landmark of a great sacrifice.

We walk slowly back into town all the way to the troll bridge and into the yellow bug. Emma and Henry sit on the back seat, holding each other, Lilly sits next to me and I drive slowly back to the farmhouse. It looks so big and empty now, without David sitting on the porch or playing with Wilby in the yard. The whole house is mocking me, because I dared to dream that Charming and I could have had a future together, we could be left alone to catch our breaths and be happy. Lilly sits on our porch swing, Emma, Henry and I walk inside. There are still flowers on the table, the flowers David gave me the other day, but I don't have time to fall apart, I don't have time to grieve, because Emma is crying and shivering in my arms.

"Can I make you some tea, honey?" I ask.

"No Mom," she replies. "I just need to lay down."

I help her upstairs and I tuck her into bed, just like I did when she was a little girl. I kiss her forehead then I head back to the kitchen to hang out with Henry.

"My Dad is a hero, isn't he?" he asks.

"Your Dad is one of the bravest men I've ever met. He saved all of us!" I reply and he falls into my arms and dissolves into tears. I slowly kneel and pull Henry in my arms, and we cry together, and I find such comfort in this sweet boy holding me, his sobs matching my own.

"It's okay Grandma," he whispers, "we are going to be okay," and I hold him tighter, smiling through my tears.

"Of course we are,"I reply, "but its okay to be sad too," I explain and he pats my back.

"I know. Grandpa said real men cry all the time" he replies and I smile through my tears.

"Did he say that?"

"Yes. When I was missing my Dad, and him and my Mom were fighting, before they got back together, that's what he said."

"It's true,"I reply. "Grandpa is right," and my heart breaks thinking of David alone in the Enchanted forest with no one to comfort him.

I step back outside. Lilly is sitting there and I'm not surprised when she throws herself in my arms. She walks in the house and leaves me alone with my thoughts. I sit on our porch and I close my eyes. I try hard to remember. I've done this before. I've survived our separation before. How did I do this?  
My name is Mary Margaret Blanchard. I am a retired police officer. In the last couple of weeks I reclaimed my love, my faith and my fairytale identity. I am Snow White, an Enchanted forest princess, future Queen of the Northern kingdom. I am married to Charming, mother to Emma and grandmother to Henry. And I just lost everything once again. No, that's not accurate. I let my fairytale prince and my people go for their own safety. I let them go. I let him go. I let go. Gone. He is gone. The realization of this hits me so hard I feel like I can breathe. If I weren't siting already, my body would be crushing to the floor. He is gone. He is gone. He's gone.  
 _"I will always find you."  
"No matter what happens."  
"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"  
"I will always find you."  
"Always."  
"Always."  
I _close my eyes and let my head rest in my hands. I can't go through this again. It hurts. It hurts to breathe. It hurts to be. Once again I do not have the luxury to fall apart. My daughter just lost her husband,my grandson lost his father. I need to be here for them.I need to be here. I need to be.

"Charming, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm coming for you. It might take me years to figure out how to obtain enough magic, how to travel through realms, but I will get there. I promise," I say quietly, then I listen carefully, waiting to hear a voice or a whisper, but all I hear back is the wind.

I get up slowly. I place my hands in the pockets of my jacket and I find something there. A small package. I pull it out and open it. I recognize Regina's handwriting.

 _"Snow White_

 _I know there is nothing I can say that will make things better, nothing I can do. Years ago, my Mother killed Daniel, then she ripped my heart out. She said that my life would be better without it, and then ordered me to forget that she'd ripped out my heart. When I banished her out of the realm, and inherited her heart collection I had no idea I'd inherited my own heart._

 _You gave me my heart back. I don't know what to say about that. I can't find the right words. There are hundreds of things you could have done to me, using my heart, and I probably deserved all of them, but you didn't. So this is me, giving you your heart back. Enclosed please find my two magic beans. You see, I always knew one day you'd come for me, and I saved those beans as a last resort, a way to escape your wrath. Except you never did. You never came for me, you never tried to get me back. You spent all your time and energy, trying to make everything right, trying to break my curse. You asked me what it is that I wanted. Nobody 's ever asked me that before. You asked me who I wanted to be. I don't know who I want to be, but I do know, who I do not want to be. I do not want to be a bitter vengeful former Queen anymore. So take the beans and be smart. Casting this second curse will have ripped our two realms apart. Do not try to get back to the Enchanted Forest on your first try. Use the first bean to transport yourself to a different realm, Neverland or Wonderland or Oz and then use the second bean to get back to the Enchanted forest. And if you do this right, you and your husband can be together again. I didn't tell you I had the beans sooner because Emma wouldn't have cast the curse. And trying to transport the whole town on two magic beans would have been way too risky. In my experience, using magic beans you can only transport just a few people at a time._

 _Wishing you the best of luck,_

 _Regina."_

I squeeze the beans tightly into my hand, my heart beating wildly. This could work, this could totally work. Charming and I could be together very very soon. But first I must take care of Emma and Henry. Emma is definitely in no position for bean traveling. I whistle and tell Wilby that it's time for his walk. Wilby looks at me and whimpers.

"I miss him too," I say as I pet him. "I miss him too."

* * *

Hi friends! Thank you for reading, thank you for responding and reviewing, I love hearing from you.

 **chapter 15 Heartbreaking chapter**

I'm sorry. And thank you?

 **Guest chapter 15 Wow, talk about a non storybook ending! You tease happiness and then just snatch it away. You are such a Grinch. I guess I hope there is some kind of silver lininig in the very dark clouds that are gathering. Will wait to see if the end is as bleak as you write it now.**

I'm a Grinch, huh? Sorry! I thought I preempted doom. A little bit at least...

 **Guest chapter 15 . Excuse me but, what just happened? Am I ready? No. Things were clearly too good because now everything is in flames. First of all how dare you make us think that everything is going to be okay. Second I'm very sad because Neal and Emma, they were planning a future together and the true loves kiss didn't work so now she's alone and a widow. Third. Snowing? First they have to fight like hell to get where they are and now when they are living together with wilby and had their storybrooke wedding, they are getting separated and I have a hunch that we'll meet the missing charming family member very soon which you are a genius but I also wanna cry. Rumple can disappear for all I care he's the one who really screwed up not Snow. I'm sad. will this turn into the ending of midfinale in season 3 the fairytale folk go back to enchanted forest and Emma Snow & Henry stay back, because since Henry and Emma was born in our world they wouldn't be transported by the new curse. Thanks for the update!**

Well, let's see. First of all sorry. But the story started intensely, then slowed down as they dealt with their feelings and it was time to pick up again. Right? I loved the mid finale in season 3, it was so well done. This is close, but not quite the same.  
Thank you somuch for sharing your thoughts!I appreciate it.

 **Austenphile chapter 15 I don't care about Storybrooke or even Neal. I just do not want Snowing separated again! At this point I do not even care if they are separated from Emma and Henry. As long as they are together. Poor David. He just got his family to lose them again.**

 **On the edge of my seat. It was amazing.**

Thank you. It means a lot.


	17. Chapter 17

I spend the next few days taking care of Emma and Henry. Henry is doing well, Emma is having a hard time even getting out of bed.  
I do everything that David would do for me if I was the one laying in bed heartbroken. I bring her meals in bed, I put flowers on her bedside, I place all my favorite books in her room. Both Henry and I spend hours in her room talking to her, reading to her, keeping her company. She is not doing well. She barely gets up to sit on the front porch then she drags herself back to bed. I wish Archie was still here. I want her to see someone, talk about her grief, but I can't think of any land without magic therapist equipped to handle her "I had to crush my dying husband's heart in order to save my kingdom" story.

"I figured out Regina's invisibility spell," she says abruptly on the third day when I bring her breakfast.  
"Did you?" I ask all surprised. I didn't know she was even trying. I didn't know she was using magic at all.  
"I did. They will never find us now, we can stay here as long as we like" she says and my heart sinks, because I thought that we'd have to leave Storybrooke by the end of the week, once we became visible to the military. A change of scenery would do her good.  
"Do we want to stay here longer?" I ask her. "Do you?"  
"My powers don't work beyond the town line," is all she says, as if it's explanation enough.  
"How do you even know that? You haven't left this room," I try to ask but her eyes are closed. She is done talking.  
I sigh. The magic beans are burning a whole in my pocket. I am dying to use them and get back to my husband but I look at Emma's pale face and I realize that this is going to be harder than I thought. A week. I'm going to give her another week, then I will tell her, no matter what.

I spend the rest of my day with Henry. There is no school in Storybrooke of course, what with everyone being gone, so we spend some time reading books together, going over his Math. Before I realize what is happening I am home schooling him and we both enjoy every minute of it.  
That's when I realize that if I wasn't born royal with the fate of a kingdom resting on my shoulders, and if I hadn't become a police officer in order to find Charming and my people, this is probably the life I would have chosen for myself. Being a teacher.  
"Come on" I tell Henry. "Time for a science lesson."  
We step outside and I bring my bow and arrows. Henry's eyes open wide.  
"For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction,"I say as I string my bow.  
"Like my Dad's death, saving everybody?" he asks quietly.  
"Exactly!" I say. I look at his sad face and realize that maybe this isn't a science lesson after all.  
"Is my Mom ever going to be okay again?" he asks.  
"I think she needs time, we all do," I reply, sounding more certain than I actually am. "What she did was incredibly hard."  
"My Dad says there's a price to pay for using magic. Is my Mom paying it?"  
"You are paying it, your Dad did, your Mom, your Grandpa is. We are all paying it."  
Henry nods. "Do you think Grandpa is okay?" he asks me.  
As hard as I try not to get all emotional, my eyes well up with tears. If with you want your family to believe you when you tell them that fairytales are real, you have to be honest with them at all times. It's one of the rules I live by. I am not about to start breaking it.  
"I ask myself that question, everyday," I reply quietly. "I don't know. Your Grandpa would say, 'I know they are safe, because I have faith'. He'd say 'I know we'll be together again, because I have faith'...so when I don't know, Henry, I just tell myself what Grandpa would say."  
Henry nods.  
"I really wanted to learn how to sword fight," he says wistfully. "He bought us practice swords, but we only used them three times.  
I smile. Charming was a grandfather for two and a half weeks and he still managed three sword fighting lessons with his grandson.  
"I can help you with that," I reply.  
"Wait a minute. You can sword fight?"  
"Of course. Back when we were married, Grandpa and I used to practice together all the time."  
"Who would win?" he asks.  
"Who do you think?" I smile.  
"Grandpa?"  
"Of course. But it wasn't about winning. It was about practicing and spending time together. After being separated for so many months, and after my sleeping curse, we spent as much time together as we possibly could," I reply smiling. Oh, how I miss those days when we played and fought and saved each other. When we slept in the woods and shared all our secrets under the moonlight. When we went out drinking with the dwarves. When we moved to George's castle and dressed up and went to balls, when we attended Ella's wedding. I give Henry a brief list of things that David and I used to do together. He listens to me mesmerized.  
"You should write a book, Grandma."  
"Maybe we can write a book together. It can be our project."  
"After the sword fighting lesson?"  
"Of course, first things first," I smile.  
He runs into the house and comes back with two matching wooden swords and hands me one. He gives me a quick bow and then he grins and says "On guard!"  
I can't stifle my laugh. This is so unexpected. This is such a Charming thing to do.  
I attack him and he successfully blocks me twice. About forty minutes later, and once he's rested from the sword fighting lesson he comes over with his tablet.  
"So about our project," he says, "where do I start?"  
"Do you want the very beginning?" I ask.  
"Yes."  
"Well figuring out where to begin is quite complicated. There was a baby girl born in a castle. Her hair was dark as ebony, her lips were ruby red and her skin was white as snow. And because she was born in the coldest day of winter her mother named her Snow White.  
And in the edge of the Enchanted forest, there was a couple who owned a small farm. They loved each other very much and they brought two baby boys into the world. They named them David and James. They were so poor, and when the babies got sick someone came to the farm and made them an offer they felt they couldn't refuse. He wanted to take one of the babies to be raised as a prince. They were so poor, they couldn't even afford medicine for the babies. They thought that a baby being raised by the king might be a good idea. So they let baby James go."  
"Wait, was that Rumpelstiltskin?" Henry asks.  
"Yes it was."  
"My other grandfather?"  
"Yes."  
"Why would he do something like that?"  
"I'm not certain. You'd have to ask him about that. But I think that he was a poor man who wanted to save his thirteen year old son from being drafted to the ogre war. He thought that being the Dark One would be a price he'd be willing to pay in order to save his son. But in the process, he lost himself and the kind parts of him inside the darkness."  
"So our story then has three protagonists?" he asks.  
I smile. How does he even know that word?  
"Maybe more. There is also Regina. She is an important part of the story."  
"Alright grandma. We are writing four stories. This is going to be great."

I wake up in the middle of the night to check on Emma. I tip toe in her bedroom, but she is not there. I feel really afraid. Where did she go? I rush out of the house. The yellow bug is on our driveway, so is my car. Where did she go?  
I don't know what to think so I sit on the porch swing to wait for her. If Henry wasn't asleep I'd drive around to look for her. Where did she go?  
When the sun rises and Emma is still nowhere to be seen I decide to view this calmly and objectively as a missing person case. I step in her room to see if I can find any clues as to where she might be. And I freeze at the door because Emma is laying in bed sleeping. I stare at her completely dumbfounded. How?  
She opens her eyes and looks at me.  
"What is it?" she asks.  
"Oh I don't know. I just spent half the night on the porch swing waiting for you to get home, because you weren't here at three'o clock in the morning. And now you are here...""I figured out how to teleport. I'm sure that's how it's called, but I can do it now," she says blandly, as if what she is doing isn't completely extraordinary.  
"When?" I ask incredulously.  
"A few nights ago."  
"Emma that's amazing. So, what do you do? Where did you go?"  
She shrugs. "I materialize close to the military emergency tents and then I practice my magic on them."  
"On them?" I ask feeling a little sick to my stomach."What did you do to them?"  
"Nothing much. I change the color of their tents. I move their vehicles around so they can't find them. I add strawberries and broccoli to all their meals. I turn all their paperwork into various languages so they can't read them. Nothing serious Mom."  
"Do you think this is funny?" I ask.  
"No, Mom. I think them showing up, destroying our lives is very serious. I think that they need to pay. I think the best revenge at the moment is to find a million small ways to make it impossible for them to do their jobs," she replies. "You know, like a thousand paper cuts. They don't kill you but they sure do hurt," she replies.  
I stare at her shocked. Does she not now how wrong this is?  
"What?" she gets all defensive. "It's not like I'm torturing them. I'm just messing with them, making them feel incompetent."  
"Do you really think that humiliating someone over and over isn't torturing them?" I ask.  
Emma looks down.  
"Emma, if you'd joined the military instead of the police force that could have been you down there!" I reply firmly.  
Emma looks at me and I down. "They had no right to invade our town. They had no right to hunt for us like they did!" she says and she sounds so angry.  
"Sweetheart, we are the ones who invaded their world. We brought magic here, in the form of a terrifying purple cloud. They aren't doing anything wrong. They are just taking samples of the air and the water!"  
"I crushed his heart heart Mom! His heart was in my hand and I crushed it!" she says and she is loosing control of her voice. "I should have fought harder to keep him alive, I should have believed in us more!" she is sobbing now. "Somebody has to pay! They have to pay!"  
"Sweetheart, he was the Dark One's son. If anything could have been done to save him, do you think for a moment that his father would have walked away? Rumpelstiltskin walked away because he knew there was nothing that could be done. Neal was dying. You did nothing wrong. On the contrary, you made sure his death wasn't in vain!" I struggle to explain.  
Emma looks down considering my words carefully.  
"It'all my fault," she whispers. "I am the Savior and I wasn't even able to break the curse. I wasn't able to save anyone!"  
My eyes well up with tears."You didn't break the curse because the curse wasn't yours to break! But you did save everyone!"  
"Maybe, but I didn't save him," she argues.  
"Emma, don't you see? Neal was the first one you saved!"  
"What? How?"  
"Neal spent his whole life trying to get away from his fairytale identity. Until he met you. You were the first person in his life not to walk away from him. And because you gave him a second chance, because you stood by him, he reclaimed who he really was. He stopped running away, and he confronted his fears. Do you not see how much joy you brought in his life? Do you not see how much your love changed him? Your love made him so strong! Do you not see how you saved him?" I ask and Emma breaks into sobs and hides her face in my arms.  
"Emma, you saved him by not giving up on him, you saved him by not walking away. Then he turned around and saved you. And in his final act of saving you, he saved everyone. But it all started from you!" I continue struggling to find the right words, struggling to show her what it all means.  
"But he is not here now. He lost his life. How is this even fair?" she asks.  
"I'm not sure that life is about things being fair, Emma," I reply and I feel tears streaming down my cheeks."Life is about standing up even when your heart is breaking, life is about doing the right thing,even if it costs you your life, life is about letting pain forge you into a stronger woman, a kinder woman...life is about trusting those around you that love you to help you through the dark days...life is about letting love in, even though you've been hurt before..."  
Emma nods and wipes her eyes.  
"But Mom, I'm so angry and I have all this power burning inside me I have to do something!"  
That's when Emma's phone rings. It's Lilly.  
Emma puts her on speaker phone.  
"Emma! How are you holding up?"Lilly asks. "Where are you guys? I want to come see you!"  
"We are still in Storybrooke," Emma replies.  
"What?" Lilly gasps. "You are still in Storybrooke? Isn't it a ghost town now?"  
"More or less. I'm the ghost,"Emma replies. I glance at her quickly. She is not kidding. She is just blurting things out matter of factly. I have never seen my Emma like this before.  
"Well, stop it and come visit me. What do you say Snow?"  
I marvel at the magnetic pull that brings all the fairytale children together in this land without magic. Snow and Charming's daughter, Maleficent's daughter, the Dark One's son somehow banding together, helping each other out.  
Emma shakes her head looking at me.  
"We would love to Lilly. I think that's a great idea," I reply ignoring Emma's reaction.  
Emma's shoulder's slump.  
"But I'll have no powers in New York!" she replies as soon as we are off the phone.  
"Come on honey, we need a change of scenery. We need a break from this place, from all these memories. Do it for Henry. Please?" I plead.  
"Alright!" Emma consents.

We leave Storybrooke at dawn. I glance at our house one last time as we drive away. I'm going to miss this place. I really thought David and I could grow old here. I shake my head and swallow my tears. Right at the town line we make a small stop.  
Henry places a piece of paper on his father's tombstone. He wrote it down last night. It's a short story about Bealfire, a young boy who tried to save his father. Emma moves her hands and a beautiful bouquet of red dahlias appears on the tombstone. I reach in my pocket and I pull out my medal, the one I got back when Paul broke the rules, compromised my position,and even though I got injured I still managed to stop the bank robbery. I place it on Neal's tombstone.  
Emma looks at me, her eyes open wide. Neal wasn't the type of man who cared for recognition or medals but Emma gets my gesture. She nods appreciatevly.  
"If we were back home we would be knighting him, posthumously." I add.  
"I think he would have liked that," Emma smiles. Seeing that reluctant smile gracing her face I feel a certain amount of relief.  
"Well, whether he'd like it or not, he certainly deserves it,"I reply.  
"He sure does," Emma adds.

Lilly leaves in a tiny apartment in Manhattan. Henry, Emma and I really don't mind how small the place is, but Wilby looks really concerned. He stands at the window, whimpering, staring at the ongoing traffic, trying to come to terms with the fact that David isn't coming home.  
"So, what are we doing now?" Lilly asks when we are all sitting around the table.  
Emma and I look at her confused.  
"Oh come on," Lilly asks. "We spend years looking for them, we found them, we let them slip through our fingers. We cannot let this stand. How are we going to go after them?" she asks.  
I look at her and I feel so proud of her at that very moment. A beautiful dark child, not accepting defeat.  
"Actually," I start. I hesitate, looking at Emma's grief stricken face then I continue. "Regina gave me this" I say and I pull the two magic beans out of my pocket.  
"Magic beans?" Henry exclaims."Let's go! What are we waiting for?"  
"You had this all along?"Emma asks. "Why didn't you say something? Besides Regina is the one that got us into this mess. Why should we trust her?"  
"It's a magic bean Emma. You think of a place and you throw it to the ground. No trust involved," I reply.  
"Besides this last mess was mostly my mother's fault," Lilly says looking at Emma.  
"Your Mother?" Emma gasps. "Why would she do that?"  
"She just wanted some magic so she could mess with your mother. I don't know. She didn't mean for any of this to happen." Lilly says quietly.  
"Maleficent wanted to get my mother, Rumpelstiltskin wanted to get Regina and now everything is ruined," Emma says quietly shaking her head. "So is that it then? Are you going to leave us?" Emma asks looking at me.  
"Leave you?"I ask and I feel like my head is surrounded by this intense fog."I thought we'd all go together!"  
Emma looks at me and doesn't respond.  
I have to choose. I can't believe I have to choose. I don't want to choose. I hear the princess inside me screaming 'James! I will find you,' as the cart pulling an injured David disappears in the distance. 'I will always find you,' the princess in me whispers but I am looking at my daughters eyes, the lost broken expression of her face and I know what the right answer is.  
Emma looks at me and her eyes are so sad, her voice so broken. The princess inside me is sobbing, her hands covering her face but I look at her and smile.  
"I'm not leaving you," I reply. "We'll go together if and when you are ready!"  
"Don't you want to see where you come from?" Lilly asks incredulously.  
"I do,"Emma replies. "But I'm so angry, and when I have so much magical power welling up inside me, if I go the the Enchanted forest, I'm afraid that I will burn everything and everyone to the ground."  
Lilly stares at her and shakes her head.  
"Your father is there Emma!" she almost yells. "Would you burn your own father?"  
I think of Regina crushing her fathers heart in order to cast her curse.  
Emma looks at me and I can that tell that she feels terrible about what she just said.

"Life seems to be about choosing whether you will be a Regina or a Snow White," she mumbles later to Lilly.  
"What?" Lilly asks.  
"Regina's heart was broken and she chose revenge. Mom's heart was broken but she chose a life of service, taking care of others," she explains.  
I smile through my tears. I'm so relieved that she gets it.  
"I suppose that when I'm tempted to let my anger take over I'm choosing Regina's path," she says quietly. She gets up puts Wilby on his leash motions Henry to follow her and walks out of Lilly's apartment.  
"Don't worry,Snow," Lilly flashes me bright smile. "You raised her right, she'll come around!"  
"Now, how did you get to be so wise?" I smile at Lilly.  
"Maybe you raised me right too,"she smiles, then she looks down. "I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I knew my motehr was up to something but I was so happy I had just found her, I didn't want to push her to tell me..."  
"I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am," I reply.  
Lilly nods. "Are you alright Snow?"  
I shrug. "I miss him," is all I say.  
She places her hand on my shoulder. She waits a few minutes then she turns around and smiles.  
"Now tell me about more Graham. Does he ever actually talk?"  
"Only when absolutely necessary," I smile through my tears.  
"Does he like Red?" she asks.  
"I'm not sure. Why?"  
"Because I tried to get his attention, but I wasn't sure if he was interested..."  
"He is hard to read" I shrug. "I thought he liked Red too, but you seemed able to hold his attention just fine..."  
"He is fairytale people, how do you know if a fairytale person likes you?"  
"Well, pretty much the same way you can tell as when a normal person likes you. Except maybe sometimes they leave the hearts of your enemies on your doorstep, instead of a love note."  
Lilly's eyes open wide."Please tell me you are kidding?"  
"I'm kidding of course," I laugh. It feels so good to laugh.  
"How did you know your prince loved you?" she asks.  
"I smashed his face with a rock, I pushed him into a stream, but still he took out three black knights to save me..."  
"Snow! You were quite tough weren't you!" she asks.  
"I thought that true love wasn't real until I met him," I sigh.  
"You really miss him, don't you?"  
I nod and I try so hard to hold back my tears.  
"Why don't you go find him then?"  
I look toward the door, and I don't reply.  
"She is an adult!" Lilly replies.  
I nod. "But I plan on sticking around because now she needs me."  
Lilly nods."I've never seen her like this."  
"She'll come around, I know she will. I have faith..." I reply and the steadiness of my own voice surprises me. I sound just like Charming. "She will come around."

* * *

HI guys! Thank you for reading. An especially big thank you for taking the time to review. You make me want to keep writing non stop. I do not like cliff hangers...

 **Guest chapter 16 I think it's very cruel of you to add the flashback scene of them being so young and in love thinking all the fighting is over, before continuing with a separation that will tear them apart again. Not that I didn't love the flashback I did it was very cute and romantic. I guess I had some small hope that you would change your mind and fix everything in the last moment but I guess not. Everyone is still sad depressed and lonely. I love Snows little tips on how to handle everything when she's gone. I don't know how Emma will handle the news of the beans or if she wants to go with them at all. All I need is snowing back together but there's still so much that can go wrong. It was a good chapter! Don't get me wrong. I'm just still sad about it's events.**

Thank you. I added the flashback because I needed some balance with all the doom and gloom. A lot could go wrong,I agree.

 **chapter 16 Heartbreaking chapter**

Thank you. :)

 **Guest chapter 16 In one of my last reviews I was going to say but"You never explained who had control of Regina's heart.." what do you do? You do not what you do best, you tie your little plot points into a neat little package with some majic beans. I hope Snow does not have to spend too much time in the other realms before she gets back to the EF. I love the way you make Neal a true hero. He isn't just fixing a problem he created but truly sacrificing himself. I am ok with the next Snowing baby being named Neal. I wonder if Emma will want to return to the EF but think the chance to be with family will push her there. You have deftly rehabbed the Evil Queen. Can't wait to see how you end this.**

Thank you. I'm trying hard not to leave any plot holes. It's hard because there are a lot of moving pieces on the board.

 **Guest chapter 16 To say that I'm heartbroken is an understatement. You really know how to pull on ones heart strings. I can't even be happy about the curse breaking (Which was badass) or the letter at the end because it was so emotional. We all know that Snowing love each other more than their next breath but sometimes it's so overwhelming and accurate I'm just staring at the page/scene and like wow. Having to go back to the house was a cruel reality check. The solution of Reginas missing heart was pretty brilliant, it made an excellent addition to the story. I wonder how you'll fix this, it'll be interesting journey. Thanks for the update!**

Thank you thank you so much.

 **Austenphile chapter 16 That was a tear jerker. A combination of Coming Hime and Broken. Although this time David does not have Henry. He really is all alone again. It is interesting that the story is from Snow's POV and how she lost him again. But he is really the one who keeps losing as she still has their family. Hopefully they will use that bean soon.**

That's true, David is awake this time and all alone. Poor guy.

 **Bwayrox chapter 15 Wow! I have no words really, but if I did they would all be good. There was so much in that chapter I had to read it multiple times just to digest it all. I'm heartbroken, but I trust you won't leave me there for long!**

Thank you!


	18. Chapter 18

I'm sitting at the firescape in Lilly's tiny New York apartment. Henry is already asleep on the couch. Emma finally agreed to go with Lilly to hear Lilly's favorite band perform at a local nightclub, after Lilly pestered her long enough. I close my eyes. The noises of the bustling city drown out my voice, but I keep talking anyway.  
"It's been two weeks Charming. I miss you, so much. This is getting harder and harder everyday. I know I tell you the same thing over and over but I have no way of knowing if you can even hear me. I have some pretty wonderful news and you are the only one I've told so far..."

David is charging into battle, the dwarves and Red by his side, the nine of them against several ogres. He is surrounded by two ogres and a chimera and a third ogre approaches from behind and I want to run and help him out but I'm still in the land without magic. 'Behind you!' I yell but he can't hear me. He turns around the last moment and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I need to be there, I need to help him out, the dwarves and Red are doing their best but no one reads him like I do. We make such an incredible team. An ogre reaches his large terrifying hand towards him trying to disarm him and I wake up bathed in cold sweat. Just a dream I tell myself. Just a dream.I reach for him just like I do every morning. He is not here. He is not here. I blink, swallowing back my tears as I remember him standing at the Storybrooke town line looking at me, trying to smile, staying strong for me. After twenty eight years waking up without him you'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I'm not. These two and a half Storybrooke weeks were such a gift. To think that I had him right there, laying beside me. To think that I could reach over and touch him all through the night, to think that I could just hold him all night long if I wanted to. To think that I tried so hard to set him free for his own good. As complicated and cursed Storybrooke was, it was such a gift. I get up slowly. I cannot start the day wallowing in self pity, I just can't. I have to take care of Emma, and Henry and maybe even Lilly. Henry is still asleep. Emma and Lilly must have come home pretty late last night, because they are both snoring soundly. I get up quietly and I walk to the bathroom. I stare in the mirror. Every time I look in the mirror I'm surprised by the young woman looking back at me. There are dark circles around my eyes. I can't remember feeling this exhausted, not until,well, twenty nine years ago,when I was pregnant with Emma. There were times I fell asleep while we were still with our council, and David had carried me back to our bedchambers. David. My David. Every time I think of him my heart hurts. I stare at the beans in my hand. "I don't know how much longer I can do this Charming,"I whisper. "I know it's the right thing to do, but I just can't do this anymore." I take off my clothes, I sit inside the tub and I let my tears flow freely. I turn the water on to muffle my sobs. I stay in the bathroom until I'm feeling calmer and my eyes don't look all red and puffy from crying anymore.

When I step out of the bathroom I'm surprised to find everybody is already awake. Emma is in the kitchen flipping pancakes, Lilly is scrambling eggs and Henry is setting the table. Wilby sensing something exciting is about to happen offers a few celebratory barks.  
"What's going on?" I ask.  
"Good morning Mom! Would you sit down? Please!"Emma smiles.  
I reluctantly sit at the table.  
Emma hands the spatula to Henry, offers me a plate of pancakes and sits across the table from me.  
"Mom," she says, and her eyes well up with tears.  
"Emma what's wrong?"  
"No, nothing is wrong," she shakes her head. "I just want to thank you for giving me time. I know that this was incredibly hard for you. And I want to say that if everybody else is ready then I'm ready too."  
"Ready for what?" I ask, my voice barely audible, because I need to make sure.I'm not ready to get my hopes up. I feel like my soul is hanging by a thread. If I'm wrong about what she means I'm just going to fall apart and start bawling over my pancakes.  
"Ready to use the beans and go!" Emma replies. "Ready to go home!"  
I tale a deep breath."Emma are you sure?" I ask.  
She nods and smiles. "I'm ready."  
I get up, walk around the table and I wrap my arms around her.  
Henry is so excited, he is jumping up and down, Wilby stats barking, the pancakes are burning on the stove and that sets of the smoke alarm.  
The next door neighbors bang on our wall. "Would you keep I down?" they yell at us.  
Lilly laughs. "I'm all for dramatic exits, but let's not set the apartment on fire on our way out!"  
We finish our breakfast then we all get dressed. I put on my white shirt, my jeans, my boots and then I strap on my bow and quiver. I look at myself in the mirror. My cheeks are flushed and my eyes are glowing. Gone is the sad, tired woman of this morning. I am so ready. I've waited for twenty eight years to go back to the Enchanted Forest. I have to remind my self that technically I am a grown woman of fifty eight years in order to suppress my urge to start bouncing on the couch or dance around the room.  
My name is Snow White. Due to a complicated curse, I spent time in the land without magic, and I worked as a police officer. I was good at my job, I even got a metal of valor. I managed to find my husband and my people in the land without magic and through the help of many and the sacrifice of one, everyone else managed to get back home. Everyone but me. I am Snow White, I have always been Sow White and now I am coming home...  
"Should we be packing our stuff?" Emma asks. "Should I bring my gun?"  
"No guns honey. If you want to, you can pack lightly. Definitely bring your boots."  
Henry packs our story in his backpack, hangs his practice sword on his belt and puts on his jacket. "Ready!"  
It takes Emma and Lilly about thirty minutes to pack up a few clothes then they are ready too.  
"Is there toothpaste in the enchanted forest?" Lilly asks.  
"Emma has magic, so at this point I think the Enchanted Forest has anything you want," I smile.  
"Maybe I didn't need to pack anything after all."Lilly shrugs. "Alright, how do we do this?" Lilly asks.  
"We are going to jump twice," I explain, showing them my two magic beans."The two curses have ripped our two realms apart so we need to use a third realm as a stepping stone. Regina suggested Neverland, Oz, or Wonderland. We just have to pick one."  
"Neverland!" Henry smiles.  
Lilly nods "I agree with the kid. I've always wanted to go there..."  
"I don't know, Neal said that Neverland was a scary place..." Emma hesitates.  
"Did he?" I ask.  
"Yes, but I don't remember why...He might have said that Pan was evil."  
"Dad knew Peter Pan?" Henry exclaims."Awesome!"  
"Should we try Wonderland?" I ask.  
"Can Peter Pan be worse than the Red Queen?" Lilly asks. "The 'off with their heads Queen?' Because I really like my head.".  
"What about Oz?" I ask.  
"Okay this is going to sound really weird but I don't want to meet any flying monkeys. Remember Mom when I watched the movie when I was younger? They really freaked me out," Emma confesses.  
"Well, then we are back to Neverland," I reply. "We will only be there for a few minutes at most. What do you guys think?"  
"If it's just for a few minutes Neverland should be fine," Emma agrees.  
"We should probably do this in the alley not inside the apartment," Lilly says.  
"You are probably right" I smile. I wouldn't want a portal formed in the middle of my living room either, even if it was temporary.  
We all rush to the back alley. I'm so excited, I could squeal. Perhaps the future queen should be more dignified but I don't even care. We are going. We really are. I bite my lip trying to focus on the task at hand.  
"Let's all hold hands," I smile. "Emma, make sure you are holding Wilby tightly!"  
Henry holds Emma's and Lilly's hand. Emma holds on to Wilby's collar, Lilly holds onto my hand. She looks around to make sure that nobody is watching.  
"All clear" she says,"go Snow!'  
I hesitate. This better work, I think then I take a deep breath. I lift up the first magic bean, and I say "Neverland!" then I throw it on the ground.  
Nothing happens. I gasp. I put so much hope on the magic beans.  
"What's going on?" Emma asks."  
I'm too heartbroken to form words. I walk blindly to the nearest wall and I break into sobs. I can't, I can't loose him again. I feel like I'm going to pass out. I bend over and I throw up all of my breakfast.  
"Mom!" Emma is arms on my shoulders as I get up slowly."Mom are you alright?"  
"This should have worked!" Lilly mumbles.  
"Wait a minute!" Henry cries out. "This is the land without magic. There's no magic here. The only place there's magic is in Storybrooke! In order for this to work we need to be in Storybrooke!"  
"Of course! Kid you are a genius! Don't loose hope Mom! This will work, I know it will!" Emma smiles rubbing my back.  
I wipe my eyes and I try to smile back. There she is, my Emma. She is back.  
We practically run to Emma's yellow bug.  
"Off to Storybrooke!" Emma cries out and just like that we drive to Storybrooke one last time.  
We park the car away from the town line and we walk in slowly. There are still reporters in the town line but they are looking really bored. One empty town void of any magical fairytale characters does not make for a very exciting reporting job.  
We veer to the right, and we sneak into Storybrooke through the forest.  
Emma tries to use her magic but she is having a hard time.  
"It's almost like the magic is fading away slowly," she frowns. "Follow me!"  
We follow her to the troll bridge, and I remember how we found David in the water barely breathing.  
 _"You saved me!"  
"Do you know who you are?"  
"No matter what happens..."  
_We walk a bit further and we arrive at a wishing well. _  
_"Here" Emma says decisively. "I can feel the magic stronger right here. Let's try!"  
I hand her the magic bean. I really don't have the strength to do this again Without any further discussion we hold hands, I grab onto Wilby's collar and and hold my breath. This has to work, it just has to.  
Emma lifts up the bean, she says "Neverland!"and drops it the ground.

None of us is prepared for what happens next. The ground opens up in a bright colorful gaping hole.  
"Mom?" Emma yells. I'm so relieved I feel like sobbing and giggling simultaneously, but there's no time.  
"I think this is the part where we jump!" I yell back and I take a step into the gaping hole smiling. I can feel them all tumbling behind me. I feel my body falling and flying all at once and I smile because it's been so long since I've had an actual magical adventure. There are bright lights flashing all around us and then the air clears up and I feel my feet on solid ground again. We are on a top of a mountain. Wilby is crying. Emma kneels to hold him.  
"That was awesome!" Henry smiles.  
"Neverland!" Lilly whispers.  
I look around. I've never seen anything like this. There are stars in the sky but at the same time, there are two stunning sunsets both in the east and the west. There's a pirate ship sailing in the horizon and an island shaped like a skull towards the north. The air feels ripe with wild unharnessed magic.  
Emma opens up her hand, shakes her fingers and I can actually see the magic dancing at her fingertips. She flicks her fingers and Henry is holding a cupcake.  
"My magic is working again!" she smiles.  
Henry takes a bite of his cupcake. "This is so cool Mom!" he smiles.  
"Do you take orders? Can I get mint chip ice cream?" Lilly laughs.  
"Your Mother is a witch right?" Emma turns to Lilly. "Try! You probably have magic too"  
Lilly opens up her fingers and a different sort of magic seeps through. Small tendrils of smoke, like tiny thunder clouds show up.  
"I can make tiny storms!" Lilly laughs.  
"You are doing this!" Emma smiles. "You have magic!"  
"Careful!" I say because the clouds are getting bigger and bigger.  
"Sorry!" Lilly smirks. She claps her hands and the clouds are gone.  
I sit down and watch them play with their powers. Emma is making little bright lights that float around, Lilly sends tiny thunder clouds that explode next to Emma's lights. I yawn. I'm so proud of them, I think. I'm so tired.I could rest here for a while, then we could be on our way. There's no rush. Where were we off too anyway? Somewhere in the back of my mind I know that we are not supposed to be here, we are supposed to be on our way, but I can't remember where it is that we are going. I need a nap. That's all. I close my eyes.  
I better say goodnight to Charming first, I yawn. Charming! Wait a minute? Where is Charming? Charming is in the Enchanted forest, I was in the land without magic. How could I forget that? I jump up.  
"How long have we been here?"I yell.  
Emma looks at me and blinks a couple of times.  
"Where?" she asks.  
Lilly is giggling. "Here, there, everywhere," she sings.  
Henry is half asleep laying his head on Wilby.  
There's something in the air in Neverland, I realize. Something to make you dream, something to make you want to sleep, something to keep you form remembering.  
"Emma how long have we been here?" I ask again, trying to keep the rising panic from my voice.  
Emma looks at me quite serious now. "I don't know Mom. It can't be that long. I mean the suns haven't even set yet!"  
"What if they never set?" Lilly asks."What if they are always like that?"  
"We have to go, now! Please!. It's time to go!"  
They all look worried and confused. Nobody argues with me.  
"Hold hands!" Emma says."I got Wilby!"  
We all hold hands again and then I reach in my pocket and I grab my last magic bean.  
"To Charming's castle in the Enchanted Forest," I say and I drop my bean to the ground. The hole in the ground opens up once again, except this time it looks more colorful and I actually hear a faint lullaby echoing through the realms. I jump in and I feel everybody behind me following me. I watch as the colors burst around us. Is it colors or stars, I wonder, as they flicker around us and then the images around become clearer. We are at our castle gates. I smile brightly even as my eyes well up with tears.  
"Welcome to the Enchanted Forest!" I say to Emma, Henry and Lilly who are blinking and looking around. Wilby is actually whimpering, his tail between his legs. He really doesn't like bean travel.  
"Is this your castle Grandma?" Henry asks.  
"Our castle," I explain.  
Our castle looks just as amazing as I remember it, bursting with life, people walking in and out, knights on their horses, nobles on horses drawn carriages, farmers bringing in their goods, a group of children tossing a ball around, a lot of new faces I do not recognize. No sign of Regina's invasion, no sign of her curse.

Grumpy is on guard duty at the gate. He is the first one who notices me. He runs up to me and gives me a hug, then he yells "She is here!"  
We walk inside the courtyard together, my hands shaking, my heart is pounding.  
Red rushes and hugs all of us at once. She squats to pet Wilby.  
"Snow! You are finally here! I don't believe it!" she says and she hugs me one more time. "Lilly! Emma! What do you think! How do you like the Enchanted Forest?" she asks.  
"I don't know, I just got here!" Emma laughs.  
"How did you do it?" Red turns to me.  
"With great difficulty," I reply. I look around the walls. Our banners are hanging high, blowing in the wind. The dwarves swarm in, then Granny, then Geppetto and Archie. There are tears and hugs and kisses and complicated explanations. Red introduces me to a couple of new people in our court. I look around. As much as I love seeing everybody, I'm feeling impatient. There is no sign of Charming anywhere.  
"Red? Where is he?"  
"I'm not sure."  
"What do you mean you are not sure!" I ask trying not to get upset.  
"He comes here, every day. He attends all the court council meetings, he does everything that's required of him, no need to worry."  
I look at Red. At this very moment I couldn't care less if he is doing all that is required of him.  
"Where is he?"  
"We had a rough couple of months battling ogres, he led us into battle of course, then Regina offered to fix the castle. He said no at first but then he agreed. It looks amazing doesn't it? We tried to convince him that it was time for a coronation but he kept putting it off, so we dropped it. He is here every morning when we hold council, then he oversees all the rebuilding efforts in the nearby towns and does whatever needs to be done."  
I listen to her words very carefully. I can't believe what I'm hearing.  
"First couple of months? Red? How long have you been here?"  
"Two years, give or take!"  
"What? How is that possible? It's only been two weeks for us!"  
Red look at me all confused."Two weeks?" she asks.  
"Neverland!" Emma replies. "There are time anomalies in Neverland. Neal explained that to me once but I completely forgot...- Mom! I'm so sorry!"  
I cover my hand with my mouth. No, no, no, it has been two years for Charming and only two weeks for me.  
"Where is he? "I ask again.  
"He kept disappearing in the evenings and of course we were really worried about him, so Grumpy and I tracked him to a small cottage, in the edge of the forest. If you follow the road that starts at the North side of the castle and then make a right on the great rock you can't miss it. When he is not here, he is over there."  
I nod. I know exactly where she is talking about. It's the small abandoned house Charming would say reminded him of his old farm, whenever we rode by it.  
Lilly looks at me, concern all over her face.  
Then Graham approaches her.  
"Would you like some help locating your mother?" he asks.  
"Hello to you too," she frowns. "Do you know where my mother is?"  
"No, but I am an excellent tracker," he replies with a half grin.  
Lilly turns around and smiles at me then she looks back at Graham frowning.  
"Alright," she says, a very serious look on her face."I accept your offer."  
"Be ready at dawn," Graham replies, then he disappears in the crowd.  
Henry is already begging for permission to join the dwarves in the mines.  
Emma is looking at the castle completely awestruck.  
"This place is amazing Mom!" Emma says.  
"It is, isn't it?" I smile. "Welcome home, sweetheart!" I smile and I kiss her cheek. Then I take a deep breath. "Emma, I'm going to go find your father!"  
"Go ahead Mom," she smiles."We are good here."  
"Let me show you guys around," Red smiles. "This is so exciting! I'm so glad you are here!"

I mount the first horse I see in front of me.  
"Hey!" A young knight yells trying to grab the reigns of my horse. "Hey!Thief! Stop her!"  
"You didn't recognize her but that's your Queen stealing that horse," I hear Granny's voice behind me. "You should feel very honored. Also I'm pretty sure she'll bring it back!"  
The knight looks at me, his eyes wide, he bows and I take off. Wilby runs after me.

Two years. Two years is a lot better than twenty eight years of course, but still, two years is a long time. I exit the castle gate and I gallop on the thin strip of land that connects the castle with the mainland. As soon as I reach the forest I turn right, racing as fast as I can. To my great surprise Wilby manages to keep up with me.

Every single thing Charming's ever promised me echoes in my head as I ride deeper and deeper in the forest. _  
_ _  
" No matter what happens..."_

 _"if I take too long and you find love again..." "I'm yours and yours alone..."  
_  
 _"Tell you what. If you want to break up with me it's alright, I'll just stick around for the rest of the day and at night I'll ask you if I can spend one last night with you... And in the morning I'll ask if you want to pretend to be married to me just one more day...and I'll do this day in and day out, forever until I'm a hundred and you are a hundred something... I'll wake up in the morning and say 'good morning Snow White. Can we please pretend to be married for one more day?' and I'll hold my breath until you say yes..."_

The Enchanted Forest surrounding me looks both familiar and strange. After a while the trees get thicker and more tangled up so I get off my horse and I start walking. The wind is gently swaying the brunches of the trees around me and I feel like they too are waving hello, welcoming me home.  
"Where is he?" I ask them.  
The trees stay silent of course but still they are a comforting presence.  
A blue bird perches on my shoulder.  
"Hello friend," I smile.  
The little bird tilts its head slightly towards the right, then he flies away.  
It is such a beautiful thing being able to talk to birds again. It's strange but I have this intense feeling that here in the heart of the forest is where I actually belong.

My thoughts are interrupted because I see the small cottage in the edge of the forest, just as I remember it, just were Red described it would be. I feel my heart beat faster. I want to run but my whole body is shaking and if I move too fast I feel like my knees are going to buckle. There's a small winding path that leads to the house and I follow it slowly, my heart beating so loudly I wonder how he does not hear me coming.  
I see him in the front of the house and my hearts stops. He is wearing a simple dark tunic and gray pants, and he is busy digging a hole. Nothing in his attire gives away that he is a royal, or that though he hasn't been crowned yet he is the king of this land.  
"Charming!" I want to yell, but my voice won't come out. He is still digging when I slow down to get a better look at him. He stops to wipe his brow and that's when Wilby runs up to him, wagging his tail. He smiles, stabs the shovel into the ground and bends down to pet the dog, then his hand freezes midair.  
I hear him say "Wilby?"  
He gets up and scans the trees with his eyes slowly. When he turns towards me and I smile. I want to run to him, but my tears are blinding me, my heart is beating fast and I can't move. My feet are rooted on the ground. He stands there, still, frozen, not daring to believe what he is seeing. He walks towards me dazed, as if in a dream.  
"Snow!" he says then he rushes towards me. He grabs me by the shoulders to make sure I'm real and tangible. Through my tears I register the surprise and the sheer joy in his face. I grab onto him tightly and I start sobbing.  
"You are here!" he says and he lifts me up in his arms, burying his face in the nape of my neck. "You are here!" and the love and relief in his voice makes me cry harder."You are here," his voice is barely more than a whisper. After my sobs have subsided his lips crush into mine, I cup his face with my hands and I feel his tears mingling with mine. I hold him tight, because I know my heart can't take being away from him for another moment. I don't want to loose another moment.  
I pull back to take a better look at him. I trace his face with my fingers. He is still the same of course, a lot tanner than I remember, and he's definitely lost some weight.  
"Charming!" is all I manage to say.  
"How did you do it?" he whispers.  
"Magic beans! Regina slipped some magic beans in my pocket right before the curse hit, but I couldn't come straight here so I took a detour to Neverland and time runs different there, because I've only been away from you for two weeks in my timeline but I've been gone for two years in yours!" I explain breathlessly and he laughs and holds me tighter.  
"Emma and Henry?" he asks.  
"They are at the castle,"  
"They are here?" he asks and he looks so happy, my eyes tear up again.  
"Yes, of course they are here. We went straight to the castle thinking you'd be there. I didn't realize you've become a recluse!" I smile and he laughs.  
"I had to do something Snow... I can't really sleep at night, not in the castle and definitely not without you, and the people in the castle were getting very nervous with me, pacing the castle hallways all through the night. And if I tried to do anything physical, like digging, or cutting down a tree, trying to blow of steam, they all jumped in, trying to do it for me. The only physical thing they'd let me do was practice swordfighting, but I was too tense and I thought it best to take a break from it before I accidentally killed somebody... I had to get away," he replies and I pull him in closer.  
"I tried talking to you, when I was alone in the dark, did you ever hear me?" I ask.  
He shakes his head.  
"I briefly considered asking Regina to put me under a sleeping curse so I could hear you..."  
"No!" I gasp.  
"I didn't. But I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't think about it every single night."

"I missed you!" I whisper.  
"I don't know how to function without you," he replies and I nod. I know exactly how that feels. I did that for twenty eight years.  
"It's like living half a life, isn't it?" I ask and he nods.  
"How is Emma holding up?" he asks.  
"She is doing better. It was terrible at first but now she is doing better."  
"And Henry?" he asks.  
"He is so excited to be here! He missed you so much."  
David smiles.  
"I can't believe this is actually happening!" he says again and again. "Let me grab my things and we can head back to the castle."  
I walk in the house with him. There isn't much to see, other than a cot, a chair, a table with two candles and some bread on it. David grabs his sword and his cape and then he looks around. Turns out there isn't much from here that he needs.  
"Ready!" he says.  
"What were you doing out here anyway?" I ask.  
"Do you want to see?" he smiles and he pulls me through the back door of the house to the back yard to show me beans stalks planted in neat rows.  
"You are growing beans?" I ask all confused.  
"Not quite," he smiles. "I got stems from the giant's beanstalk and I was trying to graft them into regular beanstalks. I was trying to grow some magic beans."  
"Charming!" I whisper and I kiss him on the cheek."Did you have any luck?"  
"Look," he points to the beanstalk on the right. It is unusually large and there are several almost clear bean pods hanging from it. " I'm getting close, but I'm not quite there yet. These ones blow a lot of smoke if you drop them on the ground, but they do not open portals. The ones over there glow in the dark...I found the last giant and I begged him to help me, but he absolutely refused. He claimed that he was out of beans and I was lucky that he didn't throw me off his beanstalk. Apparently he had an encounter with James in the past and he thinks I'm him..."  
"Oh no!"  
He pulls me by the hand through the house out the front door.  
"Do you mind walking back to the castle?"  
"Do you walk to the castle every day?" I ask.  
He nods. "How did you get here?"  
"I might have stolen a horse from a very confused knight at the gate!"  
"Misbehaving already?" he laughs.  
"You can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the bandit out of the girl!" I reply and then I laugh because that didn't really make a whole lot of sense.  
"Well, if you work on this a bit, it could be our official motto," he replies. "We can carve it above our royal crest."  
I laugh hard then I start crying again.  
"What's wrong? I was just teasing...-"  
"I missed you, I missed how funny you are, I missed your voice..." I cry and he holds me.  
"Snow!"

We walk slowly back to the castle pulling the horse behind us, David's arm on my shoulders, Wilby jumping around us excitedly, trying to trip us up.  
"So, what did you do in the last two weeks?"  
"Took care of Emma and Henry, visited Lilly and as soon as Emma was better, I used the magic beans to jump from the land without magic to Neverland, and from Neverland to here. That's pretty much it," I reply. "What did you do?"  
"I missed you, we fought some ogres, I missed you some more...that's about it," he replies.  
"You did a bit more than that! The castle looks amazing!"  
"That was all Regina's doing. The council wanted me to order repairs on the castle, but it was mostly our wing that was ruined, and I said that we will repair the castle last, there is so much work to be done. Regina stormed in the meeting, wearing one of her more dramatic gowns, and she said 'your wife is coming back and you are not going to ask her to stay with you in that hovel, you are calling a home. I will repair your castle if it's the last thing I do!' Red got excited and started clapping her hands, then the dwarves gave her a standing ovation. So she did, she spent about a month putting things back the way they were, wall by wall room by room."  
"She is doing well then?"  
"She is. She has spent most of her time helping people get their lives back together, making amends. She's opened her castle to anyone homeless or alone. There are about ten orphans that are living there and they are really happy. The fairies are helping her of course. Blue's only complaint is that Regina spoils them rotten... She comes back occasionally to give us reports...and she is always complaining about this former outlaw, Robin Hood. She brings him up so much and she dislikes him so fiercely, I'm pretty sure she is in love with him."  
"Really?"I ask and I feel so happy. "I wouldn't have minded living at your hovel, by the way," I smile and he frowns.  
"I know. Hey! It's not a hovel! It is a perfectly good home...-" he tries to protest but he gives up when he hears me laugh."Fine, it's a hovel..."  
"Rumpelstiltskin?" I ask.  
"He disappeared in the forest. Belle went after him. We haven't heard from either of them. I'm hoping that they are grieving and healing together."  
"Oh I hope so. Maybe once we are settled, and if Emma is alright with it, I can send him a message, let him know his grandson is here..."  
"Yes...-" he says frowning slightly.  
"He can have two grandfathers you know..."  
"Yes, of course," he replies but he is still frowning.  
We are almost at the castle gate so I hold him back.  
"What is it?" he asks.  
"There's one more thing I need to tell you..." I say and I hesitate.  
He waits looking at me.  
"I haven't told anyone yet, not even Emma...-"  
"Something wrong?"  
"No, not wrong..." I don't know why I hesitate, when this is all I've been dreaming of telling him this past two weeks. It's the very thought that sustained me. I take deep breath, and my voice won't come out.  
"Snow, what is it?" he asks again.  
"I have the most wonderful news," I reply and my voice catches. I can't bring myself to say it, so I place both his hands on my belly.  
David stares at me for a second and his mouth gapes.  
"Are you?" he rasps. "Are we?"  
I nod and I smile through my tears."We are going to have a baby!"  
"Snow!" is all he says then the future king of the Enchanted Forest kneels before me, buries his face in my tummy and cries. I tangle my fingers in his hair and I close my eyes.  
He looks up briefly and he brings both my hands to his lips. "Are you sure?" he asks.  
"I'm sure," I say and I feel tears streaming down my face. "I was telling you every night, in the dark and you couldn't hear me...and I didn't want you to miss this..."  
He gets up, pulls me in and holds me tighter. "I'm here now," he says. "I'm here."  
I close my eyes and I breathe him in. I'm finally home.

When we finally make it back to the castle there are people everywhere and they are clapping their hands and placing their right hand on their hearts, crying and hugging me.  
Emma and Henry rush to hug David. There are more tears, hugs and introductions and even more tears and explanations.  
Emma feels completely responsible for David being alone for two years, even though I try to explain to her that Neverland wasn't her fault. David is so happy he'd be willing to forgive just about anything so he just holds her and tells her over and over that it is all going to be okay.  
Red leads us into the dining hall where there are garlands of flowers and welcome home banners. The chandeliers are gleaming, the candles are glowing bright, the tables are overflowing with the most delicious fruits and meats, and the musicians are playing an old favorite song of mine. A song I've always had in the back of my mind, but I never thought I'd hear again. I look at Charming and my eyes are welling up with tears. He pulls me in closer, his arm on my shoulders and he kisses my forehead.  
"Welcome home, Snow" he whispers and in that very moment my heart is overflowing with so much happiness I feel like it could burst.  
Our people are eating, dancing, laughing and celebrating. By the end of the day everybody has settled down, Emma and Henry have picked the most beautiful bedrooms in the castle and Lilly is visiting the kitchen packing provisions for her journey with the Huntsman.  
David and I are standing on the balcony of our old bedroom enjoying the view of stars reflecting on the lake, my back leaning on his chest, his arms wrapped around me.  
"So, where are we staying tonight?" I ask.  
"Anywhere you like. We can stay here, or in my hovel, or in the forest for old times sake..."  
"Is the forest ogre free?" I laugh.  
"Yes it is," he smiles.  
"I'd love to try your hovel but I'm too tired to go back there tonight, let's just sleep here for now," I smile and I turn around to kiss him, tugging on his shirt. He scoops me up in his arms and then he carries me over and places me on our large canopy bed.  
"Who said anything about sleeping?" he smirks and I throw my head back and laugh.

* * *

The End. probably :)... You know I have a hard time letting go of stories. This is most likely, probably the end. Maybe.

Thank you so much for reading my story. Thank you for your insightful fun comments! I appreciate you guys!

 **Austenphile chapter 17 I thought a lot in season 6 that Emma was an extremely selfish character. In this story she is so selfish. Her mother is hurting. Her father is hurting. Her son is hurting. Lily is hurting. Maleficient is hurting. And yet, she only thinks about herself. She cares nothing for her dad. Or even her mom for that matter.**

I was thinking of her more as being in a state of complete shock. She discovered that she had powers and her first magical act was to pull out crush her husband's heart. That would mess somebody up, right?

 **Guest chapter 17 Here's the thing. I get Emma's reaction. She's mourning and hurting so much, her husband the one she just got back, died and there was nothing she could about it. She needs some time to collect her thoughts and emotions before getting back in the game and I can't blame her for that. Because right now she needs Snow more than ever because she knows how it feels like to lose the one she loves the most. She has lost David more times than I can count. I loved that you were able to introduce teaching to Snow, it still suits her. Getting out of storybrooke was a good call but why couldn't David get to keep his dog if he had to lose everyone else. Maybe Snow will give the beans away to Lilly so she can get back to her mom and then let Lilly deliver a message to David. I'll keep on reading anyways. For the intrigue. And not because it's a great story. Because I haven't forgiven you yet.**

Yes, that's kind of how I thought of this too. Emma is in shock and angry, abusing her powers, just a little bit. Ummm thank you for reading for the intrigue and reviewing nevertheless. I really appreciate it. Have you forgiven me yet? :)

 **Guest chapter 17 This was a well written chapter. You demonstrate Emma's devastation well. I like that You don't have them just throw down a bean and head to the EF. You give the characters time to process thier feelings. I found the part about life being unfair touching because of my own experiences with loss. Thanks again for writing this story.**

Thank you so much! (I cried when I wrote that line...)

 **Guest chapter 17 Wow look at this hot mess. I can hardly recognize Emma. She's not the only one hurting and she's not the only one who's lost someone but she's the only one acting that way. Snow/Henry/Lily are all trying their best while Emma is going around playing the evil queen and if she's not careful she'll go down a road that won't be easy coming back from. Emma should take some of her mothers advice and stay strong for her child because they need them more. I liked that painful illusion of Snows entire being is screaming for Charming. And when Emma asks she'll put her first and not get back to her husband and people. Grief can do stuff to people but I hope Emma realizes that she has not lost everyone she cares about and that anger and guilt are no ones help when you want to heal. Thanks for the update!**

Thank you for your very thoughtful review. And yes, I agree she should be trying to take care of Henry before playing Evil Queen...

 **thescturn chapter 17 . Great story**

Thank you!


End file.
